Depay will be United's Messi - Van Gaal

Memphis Depay

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal mentioned Memphis Depay in the same breath as Lionel Messi as he said why he is signing his fellow Dutchman.

United agreed a £25 million fee with PSV Eindhoven on Thursday for Depay, who will become their first summer signing providing he passes a medical at Old Trafford.

The Netherlands international is the top scorer in the Eredivisie this season with 21 goals and Van Gaal — who worked with the winger at the 2014 World Cup — said that prolific return had convinced him to bring in the youngster.

“He’s a goal-scoring winger and there aren’t so many of them in the world,” Van Gaal told MUTV. “Messi is one of those.”

Van Gaal said he acted swiftly and decisively because Depay, who was also a target for Liverpol, would have moved to Paris Saint-Germain if he did not.

Memphis Depay is set to join Manchester United for £25 million.

“I was forced to handle [the situation] as a manager because, otherwise, he was going to PSG,” he said. “That’s why I had to sign him and we’ve done it within one day. But, for us, it’s better to focus on the game against [Crystal] Palace [on Saturday].”

Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly makes £5million donation to Save the Children to help Nepal after devastating earthquake

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has donated €7million (£5m) to Save the Children to help aid efforts in Nepal after the devastating earthquake, according to a French magazine.

Sports magazine So Foot has stated that the 30-year-old former Manchester United man handed over the money to help after the disaster which has killed more than 8,000 people.

When The Independent contacted Save the Children's UK office on Saturday morning, the charity said they were looking into the matter with their colleagues abroad but had no official confirmation that a donation had been made by the footballer

Last month Ronaldo posted a message to his 100million Facebook followers to donate to the charity.

Ronaldo, worth an estimated $250m (£161m) according to Forbes, is well known for his charitable work, having helped raise funds and awareness for numerous projects throughout his career.

Real Madrid take on Valencia on Saturday evening ahead of their Champions League second leg against Juventus at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.