With former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho set to be appointed as manager this week, United have made Giggs an offer to stay but it is unclear in what capacity and if the 42 year old club legend will accept.
Giggs has already spent three years furthering his education, initially as a player-coach under Moyes, then, following his retirement as a player, as assistant to Van Gaal.
Mourinho does tend to have one man in his backroom team with specific knowledge of the club concerned.
He moved Steve Clarke up from Chelsea's academy to become his assistant in his first stint at Stamford Bridge and retained Matt Holland in the role when he returned in 2014.
In theory, it makes Giggsy next in line but he wasn't appointed on a permanent basis after Moyes was sacked, despite taking temporary charge for the final four games of that season, and now he has been overlooked again.
Nurturing the 'Class of 2020' has been mentioned as a possible alternative for Giggs should he wish to remain at Old Trafford but not work so closely with Mourinho.
An academy role has been ruled out as Giggs' 'Class of 92' colleague Nicky Butt is in that job.
So it could mean United's Under 21 team.
Warren Joyce has been in that job since 2008, when he worked alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Joyce has been linked with the vacant manager's post at Championship Blackburn so there could be an opening.
It would be the nearest United have to a similar position Zinedine Zidane found himself in when he was appointed Real Madrid's reserve team boss prior to the first team job in January.
Yet Under-21 football here is a pale imitation of the Spanish league second division, where Zidane spent 18 months in charge of Real Madrid Castilla.
Would it really be a proving ground for Giggs to step into the main job at some undefined point in the future?
Giggs has been at United since he was 14.
He played first team football for 23 years, winning a record 13 titles and two Champions League having made a club record 963 appearances.
Any decision to leave would be a massive wrench
He feels he is qualified to become United's new manager now and has been overlooked, as he was when Louis van Gaal came in to replace David Moyes despite a four match spell as interim boss in 2014.
If he believes the call will never come, Giggs might as well look for alternative employment elsewhere.
He has passed his UEFA pro-licence coaching qualifications and would not be short of offers.
Former team-mates such as Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce have enjoyed success and longevity with brief success for others such as Paul Ince and Roy Keane, whereas more recently others have failed outside the confines of Old Trafford (Gary Neville the most obvious example).
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