Ralf Rangnick is set to become Manchester United’s interim coach, but he is only interested in the role due to what else is on the table long-term.
United are in advanced talks with the former Stuttgart, Schalke and RB Leipzig coach over becoming Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s successor until the end of the season, sources have told i, as the club continue to pursue other permanent managerial options, with Mauricio Pochettino the frontrunner to take the helm next summer.
However, i has also been told that Rangnick would only entertain such an arrangement if there was a role for him elsewhere in the club’s structure after a permanent manager comes in, with United willing to offer him a two-year consultancy position once his interim coaching work is finished.
The only stumbling block left is negotiating Rangnick’s exit from Lokomotiv Moscow, where he only took a job as manager of sports and development in July.
Rangnick favours being able to make changes to a club’s structure in terms of the academy setup or how they operate in the transfer market. Working alongside coaches, he helped revolutionise RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig in his role as director of football, transforming Leipzig from a team playing regional football in Germany’s fourth tier to being a top side in the Bundesliga.
Solskjaer and some members of the United hierarchy in fact visited Salzburg and Leipzig during Rangnick’s time as head of sport and development for Red Bull – where he oversaw the development of all the brand’s clubs across the world – to see how they operate.
They were impressed by the philosophy he was able to instill, with his high intensity style of play that he insisted upon at Leipzig lasting the test of time. Rangnick has had a major influence on how Jurgen Klopp, Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel, among many others, coach their teams.
John Murtough, United’s director of football, has had Rangnick on his radar for some time, i understands, from several meetings with the 63-year-old. The role beyond this season will be to work alongside Murtough and advise him. Rangnick, however, is likely to be very hands on.
United spoke to Rangnick on Monday, as well as several other candidates, including Ernesto Valverde, and were most impressed with what Rangnick had to say, changing their offer to include the consultancy aspect.
Such an appointment should come as welcome relief to United fans, who have been craving another figure in the boardroom other than Ed Woodward to oversee operations, given the majority of their rivals have more successful hierarchical structures in place.
As reported by i earlier this week, Woodward had been planning to leave at the end of the year, but he may stick around to secure a consultancy role at the club for himself, with next April now earmarked as the date he could depart.
Rangnick is a forthright character, who is not afraid to shake things up and tell it how it is. He has been known to walk out of clubs when he has not got his own way. Such an approach, given the mess United created for themselves putting so much hope in Solskjaer, without still appointing a director of football until this year, will be welcomed by many.
The German’s record as a coach is not to be sniffed at – back-to-back promotions with Hoffenheim, finishing second in the Bundesliga with Schalke, as well as steering Leipzig to a top-three finish – but it is director of football-type roles where Rangnick has excelled, and is what United are so enamoured by.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3cOl6x7
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