Man U to dish out 200 mln-pounds for Van Gaal to lure top footballers next summer

Manchester United would reportedly dish out a staggering 200 million pounds for their manager Louis van Gaal to spend on some of the biggest stars in the world next summer in order to reclaim their place among the European elite.

The Dutchman has been told he would have another massive war-chest to spend on some of the biggest stars in the world. United's American owners the Glazers, along with chief executive Ed Woodward, want the Dutchman to build a formidable squad capable of competing for the biggest prizes once again.

It is being speculated that the club bosses want the Van Gaal to have two elite players competing for every position, The Daily Star reported.

United splashed almost 160 million pounds on new signings last summer including the likes of Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo.

And the former Premier League champions are set to do the same again, but this time Van Gaal would have even more to spend.

United are confident of returning to the Champions League at the first attempt following last season's disaster. This would allow them to target some of the biggest names in world football, with Woodward already working on specific targets identified by Van Gaal.

The potential targets include Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin, Borussia Dortmund centre-half Mats Hummels and Southampton and England right-back Nathaniel Clyne.

Also on United's wanted list are Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman and German World Cup winners Marco Reus and Mario Goetze.

Van Gaal also wants to bring in another striker, but would not make a move until the club makes a decision on whether to make Falcao's loan switch from Monaco permanent for 42 million pounds at the end of this season.

The main targets are not expected to arrive in the next transfer window, but several stars could be reportedly shipped out in the New Year to make room in the squad, with Anderson, Anders Lindegaard and Nani, who is on loan at Sporting Lisbon, possible early departures.

England midfielder Michael Carrick is reportedly out of contract at the end of this season, but United are expected to invoke a one-way option to extend his deal by a further 12 months.

United, meanwhile, appear to be in no rush to offer goalkeeper David De Gea a new and improved deal, despite mounting interest from Real Madrid and the fact that the stopper has just 18 months of his current contract to run, the report added.