Mark Hughes believes former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs was close to landing the job ahead of Jose Mourinho.
Having worked initially under David Moyes, Giggs served briefly as player-manager after the Scot's sacking and was then made assistant to Van Gaal when he took over in 2014.
There were suggestions Giggs would take over when Van Gaal was dismissed, but he opted to leave the club after United turned instead to Jose Mourinho.
Giggs landed his first managerial role with Wales in 2018 and has steered his nation to Euro 2020, which will take place in 2021 because of coronavirus.
"He was a fantastic player throughout his career," added former United striker Hughes, who managed Giggs when he was Wales boss.
"And he's had good opportunities to learn the game on the other side of the fence.
"Obviously he was mentored by Sir Alex [Ferguson] for many years and in later years he 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 by him and the club.
"I thought that was with a view to him taking over the role when Van Gaal left. It wasn't to be, they made the decision to go for a bigger name in terms of management - Mourinho.
"I think that was pushed maybe a little bit because of the appointment at Manchester City of Guardiola. Maybe they felt they needed like for like, which probably affected Ryan's chances."
