Angel di Maria: Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal 'monitoring' Real Madrid star

New United boss is also interested in Germany defender Mats Hummels - reports

Angel Di Maria celebrates after scoring Argentina's winner against Switzerland (Getty Images)

Manchester United's new boss Louis van Gaal is keeping an eye on Real Madrid and Argentina winger Angel di Maria, according to reports.

The Dutchman has identified Di Maria as a potential summer target as he looks to rebuild a United side who only managed to finish seventh in the Premier League last season.

Van Gaal has been tasked with getting United straight back into the Champions League and the club have already splashed out on Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera.

Van Gaal is an admirer of Di Maria's pace and strength and has made him a top target, according to the Guardian.

The 26-year-old scored 11 goals and added a remarkable 26 assists for Real Madrid last season, as they won the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

The paper also says that Van Gaal wants Germany defender Mats Hummels to shore up a back four that has been stripped of its two starting centre backs, after Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both left the club.

United could expect to pay about £75m for the pair, with the sale of several squad players funding the deals. Marouane Fellaini, Ashley Young, Nani and Shinji Kagawa could all be on their way out of Old Trafford.

Despite an excellent season under Carlo Ancelotti, Di Maria sees his place in the team under threat because of Los Blancos' pursuit of Colombia and Monaco star James Rodriguez.

With Monaco having placed an €80m price-tag on Rodriguez's head, Real Madrid will also have to raise money to make that deal happen and are likely to listen to an offer of about £45m for Di Maria, who will miss the semi-final against the Netherlands because of injury.

Di Maria has a contract until 2018, but came close to being sold in the January window.

Hummels would be a big upgrade on United's current centre-backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. He is believed to be happy at Borussia Dortmund for the moment, but the German club operate under a strict budget and would not be able to match an large offer from United.