Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he has inherited an unbalanced and "broken" squad from David Moyes.

Van Gaal - speaking during United's tour of the USA - denied the idea that succeeding Moyes was easier than following Sir Alex Ferguson, who won 13 titles in 26 years at Old Trafford.

He said Ferguson left Moyes with a team of winners, while he is inheriting a "broken" squad awash with attacking midfielders.

Asked whether following Ferguson would have been harder, the Dutchman insisted: "No. I don't agree, I followed Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn't a problem (Van Gaal won the league that year).

"When there is success you have a very good squad, and now I have to follow and the squad was broken I think.

"When you look at the squad, there is quality. There is (Wayne) Rooney, (Robin) van Persie, (Javier) Hernandez, (Danny) Welbeck. But you also see Juan Mata, (Marouane) Fellaini, and you see (Ander) Herrera. There are a lot of players that can play in the same position. It is not in balance. It's more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation."

Van Gaal will look to address the imbalance in his squad by signing at least two players over the next three weeks.

He is interested in signing defenders Thomas Vermaelen and Mats Hummels.

United have been told they will have to shell-out £79m to land Kevin Strootman from Roma while Real Madrid are also demanding a big fee for Angel Di Maria, who is also on the club's radar.

But Van Gaal insists he will not pay over the odds for any transfer targets.

United, meanwhile, have devised a special training programme to get £27million-signing Luke Shaw in shape for the start of the season.

The 19-year-old England defender had a fortnight off after the World Cup and arrived at Old Trafford unfit, according to van Gaal.

Shaw, who joined from Southampton, trained alone at the FedExField yesterday ahead of the friendly against Inter Milan.

Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, who all returned from World Cup duty on the same day as Shaw, were deemed fit enough to train with the squad.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho sparked controversy earlier this week when he claimed United were paying over the odds for Shaw, who reportedly earns in the region of £100,000 a week.

But Van Gaal refused to get involved in mind games and hinted he would speak privately to Mourinho - who was his assistant at Barcelona for three years - about the matter.