Manchester United Manager Louis van Gaal Wants German Trio Signed During the World Cup

Manchester United's new manager Louis van Gaal has instructed executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to sign the German trio of Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger during this summer's World Cup in Brazil, the Daily Mail reports.

Van Gaal, who is presently focused on the Dutch team's World Cup campaign, is looking to make a raft of changes at Old Trafford.

Woodward has his task cut out and will be looking to make an impression on the new manager after failing to bring any of United's primary targets during last summer's transfer window.

However, the German trio will be very hard to prize away from their current employers, with Borussia Dortmund unwilling to sell Hummels and the Bayern pair of Muller and Schweinsteiger on long contracts, apart from being key members of Pep Guardiola's domestic double winning side.

The only advantage on United's side will be that both the German midfielders have played under van Gaal in 2010 when he was the manager of the Bavarian giants.

The Dutch boss brought in Muller from the youth team and is also credited for converting Schweinsteiger from an attacking wide player to a holding midfielder, a position in which he has excelled.

Muller became a star of the Bayern team under the tutelage of Van Gaal and has earlier this month, spoken about his discontent at being a bit part player for the Bundesliga champions.

The 24-year-old forward only completed full 90 minutes in 24 of his 51 appearances in all competitions last season.

Meanwhile, United's new boss is also said to have daily briefings with his team at Old Trafford, mainly with Ryan Giggs.

The Welshman has been tasked with looking at internal solutions to improve the team and use his vast knowledge of the the club's youth set-up to ensure a steady flow of quality youth players into the Red Devils' senior team.

Van Gaal, since his days as Ajax manager, has been known to induct youth team players into the first team set up, with Xavi Hernandes, Andres Iniesta and Victor Valdes making their debuts under him during his stint as Barcelona manager.