Van Gaal’s United appointment now looks a certainty

Manchester United are "90%" certain of appointing Louis van Gaal as manager by the end of the season, sources have told the Irish Examiner.

Negotiations have advanced significantly over the past few days, and Old Trafford chief executive Ed Woodward is determined to push the deal through.

It is anticipated that former Ajax star Patrick Kluivert will be assistant to the 62-year-old, with Danny Blind now likelier to remain working with Van Gaal’s replacement Guus Hiddink at the Dutch national team.

Van Gaal himself is said to be hugely excited by the prospective appointment, and sees challenging for the English title as a benchmark for his CV.

The future position of caretaker manager Ryan Giggs has been something of an obstacle in discussions but it is anticipated that a compromise will eventually be reached. While the 40-year-old’s role is not quite a stumbling block, sources state it has caused a certain element of standoffishness. While United do want to keep Giggs at the club, they do not want to be seen to impose him on the new set-up. At the same time, Van Gaal has wanted to put his own backroom team together, and then see the lay of the land.

It is understood the Dutch coach does see it as important to retain key club figures in order to maintain identity, but full decisions have not yet been taken on the direction of those.

While there remains a possibility Giggs could leave, and he himself is known to not desire any token role, there is an increased feeling now he will stay in a position of significance.

United are also hoping to enhance the positive feeling around the appointment by finalising at least two high-profile signings before the World Cup starts, in what could be the beginning of an extensive transfer outlay. Crucially, given Van Gaal will not fully take over until after working with Holland at the World Cup, it would prevent some of the delays of last summer.

Van Gaal is expected to be given between £150 and £200m to spend, as United are determined to return to the Champions League and challenge for the Premier League title.

The most pressing current movement involves planned bids for Edinson Cavani of Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho, Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos and Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund. There is hope the club can secure two of those relatively quickly. In the background, meanwhile, United hope to eventually conclude a deal for Southampton’s Luke Shaw and retain interest in Irish international Seamus Coleman. Club sources have even broached the possibility that Tom Cleverley could go the other direction, given Everton manager Roberto Martinez’s admiration for the player. The young midfielder produced some of the best form of his career while playing under the Spaniard as a loanee at Wigan Athletic.