The Ralf Rangnick era at Man United was so disastrous that it’s best left in the past, however, the current Austrian team coach could be about to come back and haunt his former employers.
Bayern Munich are rumoured to want the 65-year-old to take over from Thomas Tuchel next season, after Julian Nagelsmann turned them down.
Rangnick himself has confirmed the Bavarians approach saying (via quotes obtained by Sport Bible);”There has been contact from the side of Bayern Munich, and I have informed the Austrian Football Association.
“If Bayern say: ‘We want you.’ And then I would also have to ask myself: ‘Do I want this?’
“If I want to do something else, I will first discuss it with the Austrian FA.”
Rangnick wants Man United targets de Jong and Frimpong
There’s still a way to go before any appointment is rubber-stamped, but on the basis that Bayern normally don’t mess about where player or manager transfers are concerned, there’s a strong likelihood that Rangnick will be in place ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Whilst in charge of the Red Devils, HITC note that it was believed that two of his major targets were Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong.
Both players have seemingly again been linked to United recently, during Erik ten Hag’s time in the Old Trafford hot-seat.
Were ten Hag to be given a stay of execution this summer, given that the Dutchman has had to deal with an unprecedented amount of injuries across the 2023/24 campaign, it’s likely that he won’t be able to do deals for either de Jong or Frimpong if Rangnick moves quickly.
There will be other players available in the marketplace of course, though they clearly won’t have been the Red Devils first choice in those positions.
Whether that would have a marked effect on how United approach the rest of the transfer window will only be seen in due course.
From ten Hag’s point of view, the first step for him is to secure his own future at the storied Premier League outfit.
Only once that has been sorted out once and for all should he be concentrating on bringing in the targets he wants – and who have been approved by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team.