Manchester United News: Louis Van Gaal Will Be Given £100M for Summer Window

If you can't beat them, outspend them.

Perhaps that is the sentiment of Manchester United these days—though to be fair, the Red Devils are in fine form at the moment—as manager Louis van Gaal will reportedly have a huge budget this summer to spend on the transfer market, per Mark Ogden of The Telegraph:

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Louis van Gaal will be handed in excess of £100 million by Manchester United to recruit at least four major signings next summer with the club prepared to repeat this year’s huge investment in the squad.

Despite spending more than £150 million during the summer transfer window to add seven new players, including a £6 million loan deal for Monaco forward Radamel Falcao, United manager Van Gaal and senior figures at Old Trafford regard next summer as a continuation of the process which began with the overhaul of the playing staff in the build-up to this season.

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Jim Waterson of Buzzfeed UK shows that there is more than one report on how much Manchester United will be willing to spend: 

According to Ogden's report, Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman, Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin, Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels and Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne are on the wish list.

Add that to this summer's haul that included Falcao, Angel Di Maria, Ander Herrera, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo, and it's clear that United are keen to buy their way back to the top and mold a new squad in the vision of Van Gaal.      

The Dutch manager certainly has United playing superior football to a year ago, when they finished seventh on the table under David Moyes. The Red Devils are currently fourth on the table and, should they maintain this form, a major shopping spree would be fiscally justifiable based on the huge paycheck they'll earn from qualifying for the Champions League. 

Van Gaal is certainly happy with the team's progress, as he told the club's website:

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I want to wait until after our next match [to assess things], but we’re in a very good moment. We’ve won four matches in a row, which is a very good achievement in the Premier League. I want to see what happens against Southampton—when we win a second consecutive away match, then we’ll have great momentum.

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Still, United look ahead. There will be big decisions to be made this summer, after all. Will Van Gaal splash the cash needed to make the loan of Falcao a permanent transfer? Will other stars like Juan Mata be shown the door?

It's clear that Van Gaal wants to focus this summer on bolstering the defense and adding another sturdy presence in the midfield. Strootman would certainly provide the latter, and his connection to Van Gaal—he played under him on the Dutch national team, though an injury kept him from playing in this summer's World Cup—makes United the front-runner to sign him. 

As for Hummels and Godin, more than a few teams will be interested in both players, so landing them will be difficult. But with Van Gaal already in the process of returning United to the level of prominence they experienced under Sir Alex Ferguson, players might find it hard to resist the allure of plying their trade at Old Trafford.