He joined the club for £16 million in 2014.
A defender who spent seven years at Manchester United was reportedly brought to Old Trafford thanks in part to Louis van Gaal’s grandson, after he played with him at FIFA.
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Van Gaal replaced David Moyes as United manager in the summer of 2014, but lasted only two seasons before he was sacked in the wake of the FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace.
Still, the Dutchman managed to spend over £250 million on new signings during that period, with expensive acquisitions such as Ángel Di María, Anthony Martial, Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay.
Marcos Rojo also joined for a significant sum, when he went for £16 million from Sporting CP in 2014, while Nani went the opposite way on a season-long loan.
“Marcos is a very talented defender. He can play both as a centre-back and a left-back,” Van Gaal said. “He has abilities, physical strength, and a willingness to learn. That means he has a very bright future ahead of him.”
Van Gaal didn’t mention it at the time, but according to former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, Rojo’s skills were brought to his attention by his grandson, who played with the Argentine at FIFA.
In a recent episode of The Good, The Bad & The Football, Scholes’ former teammate Nicky Butt praised the video game for being a great scouting tool.
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“When my son was about 10 years old, he could have worked on the recruiting team,” Butt said. “He knew every single player, and it was all because of FIFA and what they play online on PlayStation.”
Scholes then mentioned how Rojo’s name came up at United.
“Supposedly, Louis van Gaal brought in a player via his grandson,” said Scholes. “He told him about Marcos Rojo from Argentina (through playing on FIFA).”
Podcast host Paddy McGuinness couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “No!” he exclaimed, before suggesting that it must be one of the “made-up” things.
But Butt was adamant. “No, it’s true,” he replied.
“My son was talking to me about a player, he said to me, ‘They should go and get these three players’. I had never even heard of them. Believe it or not, probably two years later, these players started going to big clubs in Europe.”
Rojo left United in 2021 to join Boca Juniors. He spent four years at La Bombonera before signing a contract with the Argentine Primera División club Racing Club in 2025.
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