Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes that youngster Tim Fosu-Mensah could follow the trajectory of midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Fosu-Mensah has played in multiple positions during his youth career, and van Gaal believes that he could replicate the path Schweinsteiger followed at Bayern Munich.

The Dutchman has been credited for converting Schweinsteiger into a central midfielder during his time at Bayern.

"It is dependable on vacancies in your squad," said van Gaal, when asked about Fosu-Mensah's future role in the squad.

"You have seen that players in my squad are playing in different positions than what they are used to in their former careers. It is also a little bit of luck. When there is a vacancy and you think a young player has the quality to play there, you give him the chance. If he takes the chance then that makes him already mentally a good player.

"You cannot say that a player is [just] a full-back. You can see qualities and you make a profile of positions and then you look at the qualities of a player and see if he can fit that. Can he do that, can he perform that? Maybe he shall perform it and then he sticks to that position and then he is the best of all.

"You can ask Bastian Schweinsteiger who, at Bayern Munich, played on the right side, the right wing. I made him a centre midfielder because I looked at his profile and I thought that he can better play in the middle and he enjoys it more than on the right side. I have changed a lot of positions of players."