Updated at 14.56
LOUIS VAN GAAL has succeeded David Moyes as the new permanent Man United manager, it has been confirmed today.
It was also announced that Ryan Giggs, who has confirmed his retirement as a player, will be assistant manager, while Frans Hoek and Marcel Bout join as assistant coaches.
Van Gaal has been strongly linked with the job ever since Moyes’ sacking, with Ryan Giggs serving as interim boss during the club’s search for a new boss.
The 62-year-old will officially take charge once he finishes his current job managing the Netherlands at the World Cup.
He is one of the most highly-regarded coaches currently working in football today, having won numerous accolades and already managed Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich among other esteemed sides.
A statement on the official Man United website read: “Louis van Gaal will take over as manager of Manchester United from the 2014/15 season. He has signed a three-year contract.
“Louis, 62, has managed at the top level of European football for over 20 years and in that time has won domestic titles and domestic cups in three countries, as well as the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and domestic Super Cups in Holland and Germany.
“He will take up his post after the FIFA World Cup, where he will manage the Dutch national team.
“Ryan Giggs, English football’s most decorated footballer and the United player with most appearances in the club’s history, has been appointed as assistant manager. Ryan took charge of the first team for the last four matches of the 2013/14 season.”
United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward added: “In Louis van Gaal, we have secured the services of one of the outstanding managers in the game today. He has achieved many things in his career to date and Old Trafford provides him with a fitting stage on which to write new chapters in the Manchester United story.”
