In Louis Van Gaal Manchester United are pursuing a prime candidate to be their next permanent manager who was once described as "God's father".If David Moyes was the shrinking violet who was sacked because he was too awed by the club to take it forward, United would be hiring the antithesis in a Dutchman whose confidence levels have earned him the nickname "Iron Tulip".

Van Gaal is rarely modest about his achievements as a manager. Following two years in charge of Bayern Munich, from 2009-11, Van Gaal claimed he should take credit for the stellar sides of Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola that have allowed "Club Hollywood" to dominate the European stage.

The Bayern president, Uli Hoeness, last year scoffed at this: "Only Louis van Gaal can say something like that. Van Gaal's problem is not that he's God, but he's God's very own father. Louis was already there before the world even existed. If you look at the world from that perspective, like Van Gaal does, it is hard to see what the world really looks like.

"Van Gaal is a good coach who cleaned up Jürgen Klinsmann's inheritance. That's his role in Bayern's recent development. But that's all he has contributed to the club's success. And he didn't play a role in Guardiola's appointment either."

Van Gaal's response was all that might be expected from a 62-year-old who does not do compromise. "I am the captain beside God. And Hoeness thinks he's God," he said.

How the blunt Dutchman fits into the United dynamic should be fascinating and could be the key factor should on-field displays dip. Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement last year ended a near 27-year reign when all at United were conscious of precisely where power was held: in the Scot's iron grip. The removal of Moyes on Tuesday throws light again on the ongoing struggle at United's Carrington training complex and in the executive offices of Old Trafford.

If hired, Van Gaal will be walking into an institution that continues to experience the first tremors of instability since Ferguson took charge in 1986 and begin building his empire.

United favour Van Gaal because of an impressive CV that – apart from four years at AZ – features tenures managing only heavyweight European clubs, the Holland national team, and the super-ego footballers who have passed under his tutelage since commencing his career at Ajax in 1991.

Van Gaal is in a second spell with Holland – the plan is for him to join United officially once his World Cup duties are over – he has twice managed Barcelona, and spent six years at Ajax, as well as the two leading Bayern.

United are ruled by the Glazers and their man-across-the-Atlantic, Ed Woodward, the vice-chairman who speaks with the owners on a daily basis. Also on the executive is the powerful Ferguson-Sir Bobby Charlton-David Gill axis, with the former manager's comments that Ryan Giggs, the interim manager, should be given the job full-time a reaffirmation of the influence the 71-year-old still wields, despite how dire his recommendation of his fellow Scot proved.

Further down the club is a stronghold that enjoys backing from a key constituency: the fans. At Carrington Giggs has, as assistants, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, to make a formidable Class of '92 gang of four who lead the squad and were hardly vocal in offering Moyes support during the doomed 10-month tenure.

So how political an animal will Van Gaal prove when required? "If he is smart, he chooses someone from the '92 class as his assistant," a friend of his told the Observer. "He will be aware of this group, and of how to win its support. I think he knows all about it. Yet, ultimately, this will all be about how Van Gaal wants his vision of football to be played. If there is a difference of opinion he won't take any of the '92 class on his staff just to be friends."

The same logic will apply to Woodward, Ferguson et al. "That will be interesting to see – how he deals with those kind of powerful figures," the friend adds. "Van Gaal is someone who doesn't make compromises. Look at what happened at Bayern with Uli Hoeness. Like with Ferguson, if Van Gaal has something to say, if he is angry, or whatever, he will tell them to their face, blunt. Then, it is up to the other person how they deal with it.

"Maybe someone at United says to him: 'We want a break from Ferguson, you don't have to have Giggs or whoever.' But Van Gaal will make his own mind up. At Barcelona [in 1997], he took José Mourinho as assistant, who had once been only the translator there. Barcelona wanted someone else but Louis van Gaal said: 'I'll take him because he knows the players.'"

The word from the top of the club is, indeed, that Van Gaal – or any new incumbent – can choose who he wants. Yet if the Dutchman were to discard Giggs, Scholes, Butt and Neville, rumblings of discontent would follow should United begin sliding down the table.

"His first choice would be Frank de Boer but he is at Ajax. Patrick Kluivert maybe his assistant as he is with Holland but never his first assistant, so maybe he takes someone like Giggs," says the friend.

At Bayern, Van Gaal won the power struggle with Hoeness in his first season after the claiming of the Bundesliga, German Cup and reaching the Champions League final in May 2010, where his team lost to Mourinho's Inter. But when results faltered the following term he was sacked.

One battle that will not need fighting is the lowering of expectation following a campaign under Moyes that featured dull football and dreadful results. Now, the Old Trafford congregation hunger for a return to the United way of attacking play. Van Gaal should guarantee such a revival. He favours a high, pressing style, often with pace and width when going forward. At Bayern, he bought Arjen Robben to join Franck Ribéry to ensure this. At United, Van Gaal would face a more widescale rebuilding job of the squad. How he addresses this while also being a particularly politic off-field United manager should define the success of his time at the club.