Jose Mourinho to Manchester United: Louis van Gaal 'to survive until summer'

The Dutchman is under intense scrutiny at Old Trafford with his side six points adrift of the Premier League top four

Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal are said to be good friends (Getty)

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will reportedly keep his job until the end of the campaign owing to the fact that José Mourinho is reluctant to take over mid-season.

The Dutchman is under intense scrutiny at Old Trafford with his side six points adrift of the Premier League top four, dumped out of the Champions League and Capital One Cup and behind in their two-legged Europa League round-of-32 tie with Midtjylland.

According to the Daily Mirror, former Chelsea manager Mourinho is hesitant to replace Van Gaal before the end of the season with United struggling so dramatically on the pitch.

Taking over in June would allow the Portuguese to avoid early criticism if things do not work out straight away and also allow him to renovate the playing squad.

Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, is believed to prefer keeping the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss until at least May as he protects the club’s reputation in the wake of their decision to sack David Moyes half-way into his first full season.

Victory at Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup fifth round did little to appease United supporters but Van Gaal, at least, sees it as a potential turning point in their traumatic season. A famous treble of Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup triumphs, the 64-year-old believes, is still possible.

“Everybody shall say it is against Shrewsbury Town and Manchester United has to win but we have seen very difficult results in the FA Cup, not always the top team is winning,” he said.

“So I think we have done it fantastically. I have congratulated my players, I was very pleased but now we have to beat Midtjylland because it is also possible to beat them. But it is not easy because Midtjylland are very well organised, we have seen that in the away game.

“But still everything is possible. We're still in three competitions, so we have to fight for a lot of chances I think.”