Ryan Giggs Plan Reportedly Set by Manchester United Amid Louis Van Gaal Rumours

Manchester United legend and assistant manager Ryan Giggs is reportedly being lined up by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward as the future No. 1 at Old Trafford, following reports that current boss Louis van Gaal could cut short his tenure at the club.

That's according to the Daily Mail's Neil Ashton, who added: "All is not well at Old Trafford and there is a belief that Van Gaal, despite every verbose statement and every briefing by United, could walk away at the end of the season."

Meanwhile, Giggs has also been linked with the vacant Swansea City job following the dismissal of Garry Monk, per the Independent's Mark Ogden.

Van Gaal has come in for criticism throughout the season as United have produced very few convincing performances in the final third and failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League despite being handed a group consisting of Wolfsburg, PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow.

Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

While they have been solid at the back, the Red Devils' lack of creativity, dynamism and a clinical touch up front has rendered many of their games tedious and dull, to the audible frustration of the Old Trafford faithful.

Though, as Ashton reported, while United remain verbally behind their man, "nobody is convinced" the club genuinely hope to extend his current contract, which expires at the end of next season.

Football writer Liam Canning even believes the club should part ways with him this summer:

"

Sacking LvG now would be daft and will look bad United hierarchy calling him a ‘genius’ a couple of days ago. Summer bring in Pep/Carlo.

— Liam (@OffsideLiam) December 8, 2015"

"

I’ve had time to settle down and I still stand by what I said. MUFC need to part ways with LvG next summer. Don’t think he can do much more.

— Liam (@OffsideLiam) December 8, 2015"

As for Giggs replacing him, Canning feels the Welshman should be blooded elsewhere in order to have the right experience before taking over at Old Trafford:

Per the Mirror's Ed Malyon, it seems most United fans agree with him:

Indeed, the responsibility of such a big job weighed heavily on Van Gaal's predecessor David Moyes—who admittedly had never managed at a club like United, but he was nevertheless a highly experienced Premier League boss.

With that being the case, even for Giggs, with all the support he'd receive and his intimate knowledge of the players and the inner workings of the club, taking charge of United as his first managerial role could be a huge and unfortunate mistake for both himself and United alike.

The Red Devils could be best served by recruiting Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola—described as "the obvious go-to man" by Ashton—or another experienced and successful coach while Giggs gains invaluable experience elsewhere.

Then, several years down the line, the likes of Giggs and fellow former Red Gary Neville—now manager at Valencia—could be ready to make the step up at Old Trafford.