Louis van Gaal reveals other striker options to replace Wayne Rooney up front

Louis van Gaal has revealed that he will not hesitate to replace Wayne Rooney from his position up front should the England international fail to shrug off his goalscoring drought.

The 30-year-old has failed to score a single goal in his opening two games which United have won by a similar scoreline of 1-0. Van Gaal has allowed Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao to leave this summer, thereby bestowing faith in Rooney to lead the line up front.

United do not have much strength in depth in that position like they had in 2014 but the Dutchman insists that should Rooney fail to impress on a consistent basis, he has the option of bringing in the likes of Adnan Januzaj who scored the winning goal against Aston Villa, or use the likes of Javier Hernandez and James Wilson who are waiting for a chance to impress.

"I have always confidence in my players, but we don't have only Wayne Rooney in the striker's position," said Van Gaal, as quoted by the Mirror.

"We have Adnan Januzaj, he played in the striker's position in the USA on tour. I have given him that chance and he has shown he can do that.

"We also have Chicharito [Javier Hernandez] and we have James Wilson, so I don't think we have a lack of strikers," he added.

United are also close to securing a deal for Barcelona winger Pedro Rodriguez, with chief executive Ed Woodward having flown to Barcelona to complete a deal for the Catalan as soon as possible, revealed the Mirror. His arrival will add some much needed impetus up front for the Red Devils, who have been found wanting for ideas in the final third.

Van Gaal reiterated that he is not impressed by the media's interest in their striker position, having run a campaign to have Rooney reinstated through the middle last season.

"I think all the media has written that for one year and advised me I have to put him in the striker's position. So it is amazing that after two matches you are doubting your own opinion. I cannot understand that," the manager added.