Louis van Gaal wants Manchester United to offload Marouane Fellaini

Marouane Fellaini’s World Cup campaign has essentially become one big Barclays Premier League audition after it emerged that new Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has instructed the club to sell him.

Fellaini — an unmitigated disaster during his first season at Old Trafford last term — scored when coming on as a late substitute in Belgium’s opening game here in Brazil. He has played every minute of the three victories that have followed.

But it is understood that Van Gaal has told associates Fellaini is ‘not a United type of player’ and has instructed chief executive Ed Woodward to sell him before the season starts.

Old Trafford sources have revealed this week that Van Gaal has been quite clear about who he wants and doesn’t want and has told Woodward already.

All that remains to be seen is whether United can sell Fellaini for anything near the £27million they paid when buying him from Everton last September.

Sacked United manager David Moyes consistently defended Fellaini last season and used to say that the 26-year-old was Belgium’s ‘stand-out player whenever I went to see them play’.

Now it appears that Fellaini must show that form during the remainder of this tournament if he is to get a decent move ahead of the Premier League season, which starts next month.