Louis van Gaal has given a clear indication that Wayne Rooney will be his new captain after seeing the England striker lead Manchester United to victory over Liverpool in the International Champions Cup final.

Rooney was set to succeed Nemanja Vidic as skipper at Old Trafford under David Moyes but Van Gaal’s appointment led to suggestions that he would give the armband to his Holland captain Robin van Persie instead.

However, Rooney was chosen to lead United for the first time under the Dutchman at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, and afterwards Van Gaal hinted that he would prefer to give the job to an Englishman.

‘I think you have choose when it is possible for the English style,’ he said.

‘I am always looking for opportunities to give players the captain’s armband. Today Rooney played 90 minutes for the first time. Darren Fletcher had already done it two times, then he was the captain, and Tom Cleverley because he also had 90 minutes.’

Rooney was also voted the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring his fifth goal on tour in United’s 3-1 win over their old rivals. Van Gaal agreed with the decision, saying it was more merited than the same award given to Lionel Messi at the World Cup this summer.

‘He is a man who is always a winner,’ added the United boss. ‘You saw in the World Cup when the award went to Messi it is not always like that. It is deserved because he scored a lot of goals and made assists. The judges are always looking for that.

‘But we have also defended very well and without defence we cannot score. A lot of my defenders could have been Most Valuable Player of this tournament.

‘His was a wonderful goal and very important for him, I believe. When you see the technique and what he did to push the ball under the legs of the opponent and into the bottom corner. It was a great cross by Hernandez of course – it was a very good attack.’

Van Gaal played down the importance of lifting the International Champions Cup after finishing the tour unbeaten, but acknowledged that beating Liverpool would delight their fans.

Asked the value of winning the tournament, he replied: ‘Nothing. It’s nice for the fans in the USA but also at home that we beat Liverpool. It’s not our favourite opponent I think for Man United fans. We have given a lot of pleasure to these fans and that is very important.

‘Of course it is better to win in pre-season than to lose. The most important game is Swansea at home in the first game, that’s the one we have to win.

‘It’s better to win and maybe you have noticed in the media that first we beat Roma and then Inter Milan and then Real Madrid. It was not enough because now it was a test in the Premier League.’

Van Gaal also confirmed that Antonio Valencia came off after only five minutes as a precaution and that Danny Welbeck is recovering from a knee injury.

Asked about any new signings, he said: ‘I cannot say anything fresh about players. That you can understand. When I say something it raises the price, so it’s not nice.’