Man Utd saw Man City sign TWO of Rangnick's five summer transfer targets

Karan Tejwani

11 Aug 2022 09:23 BST
3 min read

Former RB Leipzig manager Ralf Rangnick — © ProShots

Former Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick suggested a list of players for the club to buy when he was there, and all of them were ignored.

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The German was at the club between November 2021 and May 2022, and often expressed his displeasure over the way things were run at Old Trafford, criticizing the club’s recruitment in press conferences.

At one point, he even said the team would need a major overhaul in the summer transfer window, saying they would need as many as 10 new players if they were to compete domestically and in Europe.

He made a set list of targets the club should’ve pursued when he was there, and hoped to see moves made for them in the summer transfer window this year.

Man City signed two Rangnick recommendations

Amongst the list were RB Leipzig duo Josko Gvardiol and Konrad Laimer, while Christopher Nkunku was also eyed, but he ended up extending his stay with the German side.

Gvardiol, the Croatian centre-back, has been impressive for the Bundesliga side over the last year, while Laimer has been a consistent force for the Red Bulls, despite a few injury troubles in recent times.

There were two other players Rangnick recommended to Manchester United, and both of them ended up coming to Manchester, but are at the Etihad Stadium at cross-town rivals Manchester City.

Erling Haaland has now scored 2+ goals on his Bundesliga, UCL and Premier League debuts.

⚽⚽⚽ vs Augsburg (Bund)
⚽⚽⚽ vs. Genk (UCL)
⚽⚽ vs. West Ham (PL)

One more to make it a hat-trick of hat-tricks. 👀 pic.twitter.com/CBjg9UIGHD

— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) August 7, 2022

Those two were Erling Haaland, who was at Borussia Dortmund at the time, as well as Julian Alvarez, who was emerging at Argentina’s River Plate when Rangnick identified him.

Rangnick requested a move for Alvarez back in January, with United having scouted him for years before, but Manchester City were quick to complete the transfer and he joined Pep Guardiola’s side.

As for Haaland, even though Rangnick knew it would be difficult to complete those deals, the German manager still asked United to make an attempt for the Norwegian.

Haaland made it clear that he would only want a Champions League club where the project was right, but Rangnick still felt the Red Devils could’ve tried to sign the forward.

Rangnick joined the club as an interim coach with a view to becoming an advisor after his stint, but he left his role in May, taking up the head coach role with the Austrian national team instead.