World Cup-winner Breitner, who is employed by the Bavarian club in an advisory role to the board and was himself one of the candidates to take over following Jurgen Klinsmann's dismissal last month, claims the decision to go for the Dutchman was unanimous.

"You will not find anybody at the club who is not happy about it," he said.

"That is because one thing is for certain: Louis van Gaal belongs to a category of coaches of which, in my opinion, there is only a handful at the peak of international football.

"Van Gaal is in the elite, he is in the Champions League among coaches."

Bayern's quest to appoint the man who led Ajax to Champions League glory, Barcelona to two Primera Division crowns and, most recently, AZ Alkmaar to an unlikely Eredivisie triumph was not so easy, though.

Van Gaal insisted he was able to leave the Dutch side on a gentleman's agreement this summer one year before his contract was due to expire.

However, AZ president Dirk Scheringa insisted there was no way he would be allowed to walk out on the club for free.

Only a meeting between Scheringa and Bayern representatives Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge yesterday found a solution, although Breitner insists Van Gaal's conduct has been exemplary.

"The way he behaved towards the club he is still employed by was fantastic," Breitner told Munich's Tz newspaper.

"FC Bayern was in Louis van Gaal's thoughts, but he was absolutely correct with the way he dealt with his team and Alkmaar.

"That shows what character he has. The important thing is that he was willing and that is a positive signal."

By appointing Van Gaal, Bayern have turned to an experienced coach after learning their lesson from an ill-fated experiment with Klinsmann.

Klinsmann's first job as a club coach came to an end after less than 10 months without him having managed to take Bayern to the top of the Bundesliga table even once.