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United set to miss out on another midfielder

51thomas-mueller-2014Having decided Toni Kroos is no longer worth pursuing, Manchester United are set to miss out on another Bayern Munich midfielder, with German international Thomas Mueller expected to decline Louis Van Gaal’s offer to join him at Old Trafford, while the Bavarian outfit remain reluctant to sell. Mueller was thought to be one of United’s main transfer targets this summer, for the German can play in three different roles and guarantees an excellent goalscoring return for a midfielder, providing United with exactly the sort of player they’ve sorely missed for over five years now.

While Mueller has developed into a pivotal figure for the Bundesliga champions, United felt his relationship with Van Gaal could prove decisive in their quest to bring the Bayern midfielder to Old Trafford given the Dutch manager was responsible for giving Mueller his first chance at the Allianz Arena in 2010. The 24-year-old, however, has admitted he’s happy at Bayern, despite being asked to cover different roles by Pep Guardiola, and the German club expect Mueller, whose current deal expires in 2017, to see his contract out. With Cesc Fabregas seemingly poised for a return to Arsenal and Van Gaal deeming Kroos not worth pursuing, United might have to look elsewhere for a central midfielder, even though one would imagine the Dutchman made clear who his targets were when he handed his list of players to Ed Woodward. Van Gaal’s decision to rule out a bid for Kroos surprised many and Paul Scholes in particular, given the former United midfielder had identified the German as the perfect tonic for United’s midfield woes. “The first player I’d bring in is Toni Kroos. He’s a top-class central midfield player but United need five or six to get anywhere near the top of the Premier League again,” said Scholes. Kroos’ deal expires in 2015 but United’s decision to abandon the race to sign him hasn’t put the German any closer to sign a new contract with Bayern. “There will certainly be further talks but at some point the player has to say what he wants,” Bayern’s president Karl Hopfner told a German newspaper. “We will not exceed certain financial boundaries.” “It was the same with Michael Ballack and at some point we withdrew the offer.”