Louis van Gaal has transfer track record of money not being well spent

Hi, my name is Louis van Gaal and I'm a spendaholic.

It's a compulsion. Every club I go to, I spend exorbitant sums of money to buy new players.

I need help.

This summer, the Dutch manager will embark on his second offseason transfer window with Manchester United. Like last summer, he will be provided with ample funds. In fact, he's already locked down Memphis Depay from PSV, a gifted young winger who will arrive for some $34 million – the most paid for a player from the Dutch league since Ruud van Nistelrooy, and more than the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wesley Sneijder and Luis Suarez.

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The trouble is, for all his success as a manager (four Dutch league titles, two Spanish league titles, a German league title, Champions League and UEFA Cup trophies, the Intercontinental Cup and a third place at the World Cup), Van Gaal has a spotty resume on the transfer market. And this time around, he could be entrusted with more money than ever, in a market with less competition than usual.

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Barcelona will be banned from the market, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid face the same transfer restrictions and Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are already loaded. So of the truly big spenders, it could well be that only cross-town rivals Manchester City are real players.

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But before United entrusts that reportedly sizable war chest to Van Gaal, whose team does indeed need reinforcing, it would probably do well to examine his transfer track record when he has made significant purchases (relative to the time and his then-employer's budget).

So we took a look back and broke down the good deals and the bad, relative to their expectations and fees. This is all terribly subjective, of course, but taken on the whole, we think it makes the case that any club should be cautious about just letting Van Gaal buy whoever he wants.

Ajax (September 1991 to June 1997)

Van Gaal quickly built a strong team by signing Jari Litmanen, Marc Overmars, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George cheaply, and blending them in with the golden generation pushing through the academy. He later added Richard Witschge and Winston Bogarde at reasonable prices.

But in his later years at the club, a series of expensive purchases flopped badly. That would be Peter Hoekstra, who wasn't a worthy replacement of Overmars; Marcio Santos, who was constantly injured; Dani, who wasn't the new Litmanen after all; Ivan Cesar Gabrich, a feckless striker; and Mariano Juan, an overrated midfielder.

Barcelona (July 1997 to May 2000)

With Ronaldo off to Inter Milan, Van Gaal snapped up Rivaldo for almost the same staggering fee. He would be a great success until he fell out with Van Gaal and was released with a year left on his contract. Patrick Kluivert and Frank de Boer, purchased in a joint-deal with his twin brother Ronald, were his other big successes.

But then there were plenty of failures. Sonny Anderson. Christophe Dugarry. Boudewijn Zenden. Dani – a different one, who failed all the same. Frederic Dehu. Simao. Expensive mistakes, all of them.

Barcelona (Second spell: July 2002 to January 2003)

In his short and fateful second period with the club, Van Gaal didn't get to spend much. Juan Riquelme was bought directly by president Joan Gaspart. Van Gaal immediately told the Argentine playmaker that he wasn't on board with his signing and wouldn't be playing him – and then didn't. Gaizka Mendieta, signed on loan, bombed as well. Van Gaal openly griped that there was no money to spend under Gaspart, whereas with Josep Nunez as president, he could buy whomever he wanted. Soon enough, both he and Gaspart were gone.

Van Gaal did manage to sell a 19-year-old Pepe Reina to Villarreal for under a million dollars.

AZ Alkmaar (July 2005 to June 2009)

Seeking to rebuild his reputation following three consecutively failed jobs, Van Gaal built AZ into a Dutch juggernaut by picking up Demy de Zeeuw, Danny Koevermans, Stijn Schaars, Moussa Dembele, Mounir El Hamdaoui, Sergio Romero and Gretar Steinsson. The outlay was enormous for a provincial club from a small league, but all proved inspired signings.

But for every masterstroke, there was an outright failure. Because Van Gaal also blew tens of millions on Gijs Luirink, Ryan Donk, Joey Didulica, Graziano Pelle, Ari, Hector Moreno and Boy Waterman, many of whom were feckless in Alkmaar but went on to succeed elsewhere.

Bayern Munich (July 2009 to April 2011)

Right off the bat, Van Gaal signed Arjen Robben – whom returned Real Madrid president Florentino Perez wanted to offload to help foot the bill of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, against the wishes of both the player and new manager Manuel Pellegrini – and the Dutch winger would prove bedrock to all Bayern's success. Van Gaal also bought Mario Gomez who, while expensive, proved worth the outlay.

Van Gaal had fewer flops than usual. Danijel Pranjic, brought in from Heerenveen, probably didn't belong. But other than that, his biggest failure in the market was selling Mats Hummels to Borussia Dortmund for just $5 million.

Manchester United (July 2014 to the present)

Of all the money Van Gaal got to spend, there has really only been one unqualified success: Daley Blind, who has been solid in midfield or at left back. Marcos Rojo and Radamel Falcao, meanwhile, have been pricey busts. The jury is still out on Angel Di Maria, whose $95 million fee obliterated United's transfer record; the Argentine has fizzled badly after a hot start. Luke Shaw is young but ever so dear for a left back. And Ander Herrera has shown flashes but has a tall transfer sum to live up to as well.

Now, Van Gaal will get to do it all over again. He'll probably sign a striker. He needs a few defenders. Perhaps another central midfielder. And, if David De Gea leaves for Real Madrid, a new goalkeeper.

Given his history on the market, however, it's buyer beware.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.