Borussia Dortmund centre-back Mats Hummels is another target and is arguably the ideal talent to fill the void left by the summer exits of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
The 25 year old won back to back Bundesliga titles with his Westfalenstadion side but has then seen a number of his team-mates leave for pastures new with the likes of Nuri Sahin (who subsequently returned), Shinji Kagawa and Mario Gotze moving on and with star striker Robert Lewandowski set to move to domestic rivals Bayern Munich the German international defender could feel this is the right time to consider a possible exit himself.
The rock-solid tough tackler may be open to the possibility of being part of van Gaal’s new-look defence and the chance to work under the famed manager is sure to have more pulling power than when David Moyes was in situ.