'He's not on our list' - Rangnick stunned as Man Utd had no idea about Bundesliga star
FT Desk
- Updated: 11 Apr 2022 09:06 BST
- 5 min read
Manchester United fans have long suspected that whatever poor performances are shown on the pitch, they could never quite compare to the club’s constant mishaps off it.
Indeed, the Old Trafford club have been one of the biggest spenders in European football for at least the last 30 years and since Sir Alex Ferguson departed the club in 2013 they have struggled to show any ingenuity or forward planning in the transfer window.
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Whether it be Angel di Maria, Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire or now Cristiano Ronaldo, it has often seemed as though Man Utd pay little attention to their scouting department and simply signing the highest profile players each and every summer.
However, such fears have now been confirmed following an intriguing reveal from ESPN journalist Mark Ogden.
How Man Utd forgot about Nkunku
In a recent interview with YouTube channel Stretford Padock, the reporter told a story in which interim manager Ralf Rangnick reached out to the club’s scouting department upon arriving in December to ask for the scouting report on RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku.
The young forward was once a Paris Saint-Germain youth product, before making a move to RB Leipzig in 2019 and has since gone from strength to strength, where he is now sitting on 28 goals and 18 assists in 42 games for the club.
However, according to Ogden, when Rangnick asked Man Utd’s scouts for their opinion of the player, they shook their heads and responded by saying: “He's not on our list.”
Ogden then explained how Rangnick responded, amazed at the fact that Man Utd were completely unaware of one of the Bundesliga’s most talented players.
"Come on, this is currently the best young player in Germany, he will soon be a French international,” Rangnick was reported to have said. “He scores a lot of goals. This is a player that everyone needs to know.”
As worrying as that may sound, what will depress Man Utd fans even more is that Ogden’s revelation will most likely come as no surprise to the Old Trafford faithful.
