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Mark Hughes believes that former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs came close to landing the spot ahead of José Mourinho.
Having initially worked with David Moyes, Giggs briefly served as a player-manager after the Scotsman’s firing and was later appointed an assistant to Van Gaal when he took over in 2014.
There were suggestions that Giggs would take over when Van Gaal was fired, but he chose to leave the club after United turned to José Mourinho.
Giggs landed his first managerial position with Wales in 2018 and has led his nation to Euro 2020, which will take place in 2021 due to the coronavirus.
“He was a fantastic player throughout his career,” added former United striker Hughes, who managed Giggs when he was Wales coach.
“And he’s had good chances to learn the game on the other side of the fence.
“Obviously he was advised by Sir Alex [Ferguson] for many years and in later years she was able to work alongside him. He then worked very closely with Van Gaal for a couple of years, which I felt was a good decision from him and the club.
“I thought it was with a view to him taking over when Van Gaal left. He didn’t, they made the decision to go for a bigger name in terms of management: Mourinho.
“I think that was put a bit of pressure because of Guardiola’s appointment at Manchester City. Maybe they felt they needed to like, which probably hurt Ryan’s chances.”
