Louis van Gaal: what has the former Man Utd manager said about prostate cancer diagnosis - and how old is he?

Former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed the unfortunate news that he is suffering with prostate cancer.

The current Netherlands manager made the announcement on Dutch TV programme Humberto on Sunday and has since received support from all across the football world.

Van Gaal came out of retirement last summer - days before his 70th birthday - as he joined the national team as their head coach for a third time, five years after leaving his post at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman spent two years with the Red Devils, helping them to their first FA Cup triumph since 2004.

Van Gaal’s news comes the week after the Netherlands’ discovered their group stage opponents ahead of this winter’s World Cup.

What has Van Gaal said?

When speaking on Humberto, Van Gaal admitted that he kept the news from his players during the recent international break.

“I didn’t want to tell it to my players because it could have influenced their performances,” he said.

“In each period during my time as manager of the national team I had to leave in the night to go to the hospital without the players finding it out until now. While thinking I was healthy, but.. I am not.

“I think you don’t tell people you work with like that because it might influence their choices, their decisiveness, so I thought they shouldn’t know,” he said. “You don’t die from prostate cancer, at least not in 90% of the cases.

“It is usually other underlying diseases that kill you. But I had a pretty aggressive form, got irradiated 25 times. Then you have a lot of management to do in order to get through life.”

What else has been said?

Fans, players and football clubs have been posting messages of support for the Dutchman on social media since the news came out of his diagnosis.