Louis Van Gaal's Future Reportedly Clarified Amid Jose Mourinho Rumours

Louis van Gaal reportedly believes he is assured of his job as Manchester United manager next season even if his side do not finish the current campaign in the Premier League's top four.

According to David McDonnell in the Mirror, the Dutchman has kept his staff informed of his conversations about his future with the United hierarchy, "and the message from Van Gaal's camp is that the former Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Holland boss has been told he is staying—with plans already underway for summer transfers."

Because of United's poor form this season it had been widely rumoured that Van Gaal would not survive to see out his contract into 2017, with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho reported to be succeeding him in the summer, per Samuel Luckhurst in the Manchester Evening News. 

Bleacher Report's Dean Jones believes the Portuguese would be a smart choice to replace Van Gaal if United want to return to the upper echelons of English football:

They have been poor ever since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, but they have regressed further under Van Gaal this season after he led them to a fourth-placed finish in 2014-15.

The Red Devils were knocked out this season's Champions League at the group stages and are currently three points back from fourth-placed Manchester City—who have a game in hand—with only nine matches left to play.

However, despite the European humblings and an eight-match stretch at the end of 2015 in which United failed to win once, the club's executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, and the owning Glazer family have kept faith with Van Gaal.

And, per McDonnell's report, they will keep patience with him into the 2016-17 campaign, not least because there are divisions in the United hierarchy about appointing Mourinho, and few alternative options are available.

If United's season ends without Champions League qualification—either by a top-four finish or winning the Europa League—clamour for Van Gaal to go is likely to increase further.

Already there is a major faction of fans and pundits who believe he should go, and former United winger Andrei Kanchelskis has now called for him be moved on, citing his style of play as a major problem, per bwin (via Luke Gardener in the Daily Star):

"

Louis is a great coach with a lot of international experience, but his style is wrong for United. There has not been enough service and so there have not been enough goals and that must change. The best clubs have a philosophy and United have always been about attacking football, fast wing play and developing youth. 

The one positive is that, recently, he has begun trusting the young players to deliver and given them chances. This will help give him some more time with the fans and maybe the club too. I feel sorry for Louis because [Ferguson] is an impossible act to follow, but I don’t think he is the right manager for Manchester United.

"

Kanchelskis is far from the first person to criticise Van Gaal for introducing a style of play at Old Trafford so at odds with the fast-paced game Ferguson was famed for.

United legend Paul Scholes previously slammed the Dutchman for his "negative football," per BT Sport (via the Mail on Sunday's Joe Bernstein).

However, it seems Van Gaal may yet survive beyond the summer and could even remain in charge until the end of his three-year contract in 2017.