Iniesta: Louis van Gaal will usher through young talent at Manchester United

Andres Iniesta of Spain controls the ball during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group B match between Spain and Chile at Estadio Maracana on June 18, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has moved to praise the new Manchester United and current Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, stating that the Dutch manager commands respect from both veteran talent and young players, report the Republik of Mancunia.

Van Gaal was the manager who gave Iniesta his debut when he was in charge of Barcelona, and the midfielder has gone on to make over 500 appearances for the Catalan club. He has also completed a century of caps for Spain.

Iniesta and Spain were shockingly eliminated from the World Cup during the group stages. This was a considerably poor defence of their World Cup crown, and even more surprising given their success at the European Championships only two years ago.

Iniesta said: “He already commands respect when you are a veteran, so imagine when you have just entered the team and you are young.

“But the truth is I have a special memory of him, because he is someone who is very important to me and if there was something he cared about, it was supporting the young players from the reserves.”

Van Gaal and Manchester United have kicked off their summer recruitment drive in earnest as they seek to improve upon their poor display last season, when David Moyes’s side finished seventh in the league. Luke Shaw recently became Man Utd’s second signing of the summer, following on from the recruitment of Ander Herrera.