Ralf Rangnick’s brief stint as Manchester United’s interim manager was far from successful but perhaps that was never the aim when the German replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021.
When the deal was announced, it was revealed that after taking interim charge for just over half of the 2021/22 season, he would remain at the club as a consultant.
Just weeks after Erik ten Hag’s appointment was confirmed in April, that agreement was also scrapped and Rangnick cut ties with the Old Trafford club completely. Now, he’s the head coach of the Austrian national team.
It’s common knowledge that Rangnick was keen on bringing players in during the January transfer window this year but no players arrived and he had to make due with the squad at his disposal. Now, the man himself has supposedly revealed which players he was trying to sign.
TRUE✅ Ralf Rangnick told me: He tried to get for @ManUtd Alavaro Morata, Dusan Vlahovic, Christopher Nkunku, Josko Gvardiol, Luis Diaz & Erling Haaland. But the Club refused Winter-Transfers pic.twitter.com/hJ5fhM3dpE
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) October 26, 2022
According to German journalist Christian Falk, Alvaro Morata, Erling Haaland and Dusan Vlahovic were all forwards Rangnick admitted having been keen on.
Furthermore, Josko Gvardiol, Luis Diaz and Christopher Nkunku were also players the former Schalke boss had earmarked as players to strengthen the United squad. As per Rangnick himself, the club blocked any attempt to sign players during the January transfer window.
SN’s verdict…
Rangnick’s targets were very ambitious considering the situation United were in at the time and although there is an argument to say that United should have entertained the idea at least, the club did the right thing by blocking all moves.
The agreement was that Rangnick would coach the side for six months and there is no guarantee that the next manager, who United had not yet identified at the time, would want the players signed by Rangnick.
From past experiences at Old Trafford, that is a nightmare waiting to happen and United did the right thing by trying to avoid it.
