How Rangnick's Man Utd transfer plans differed to Ten Hag's

James Shearman

Updated: 2 Sep 2022 11:53 CDT
4 min read

Manchester United's transfer window would have been completely different under Ralf Rangnick, according to reports.

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Rangnick, who coached United last season, took up a consultancy role at the club this summer.

And one of his responsibilities was to help new manager Erik ten Hag with the recruitment of new players.

However, Rangnick left the Red Devils just six days after Ten Hag's introductory press conference; they wanted to take United in completely different directions.

''Rangnick would never have endorsed a move for Arnautovic, never mind Eredivisie-based players,'' reports Manchester Evening News.

Instead, the Austria national team coach wanted to target players from his former club; RB Leipzig.

''Rangnick deemed RB Leipzig and Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol a "must-buy" and recommended his teammates Konrad Laimer and Christopher Nkunku; a centre-back, a midfielder and a goalscorer to strengthen the team’s spine.''

Man Utd’s summer signings

The Red Devils have made seven signings this summer; the first of which was Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia.

The defender was set to join Lyon after the French side agreed a fee with Feyernoord, but Man Utd swooped in at the last second with a better offer and convinced the player to join them instead.

Malacia came through the Feyenoord youth set-up, and made 50 appearances in all competitions during his final year at the club, including 11 in their run to the Europa Conference League final.

Second, Christian Eriksen completed a free transfer move to Manchester United, signing a three-year deal at Old Trafford.

Eriksen, 30, was feared to have come to the end of his professional career after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field while playing for Denmark in Euro 2020.

Christian Eriksen is a RED! ✍️🔴#MUFC || @ChrisEriksen8
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 15, 2022

But he has made a remarkable recovery and performed extremely well for Brentford in the second half of last season after parting company with Inter.

Now, just over a year after collapsing in Denmark colours, he is playing at one of the world's largest clubs, who are in desperate need of his ability and spirit.

Add to that, United completed one of the more expensive signings of the transfer window in former Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez.

Arsenal also put in a bid for Martinez, but the Argentine preferred a move to Man Utd in order to reunite with his former boss Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag and Martinez enjoyed three successful years together at Ajax, winning four major honours.

Fourthly, Man Utd brought in veteran midfielder Tom Huddlestone on a surprise free transfer to act as a player-coach for the Under-21 team.

United then really opened up their chequebooks towards the end of the window to make two blockbuster signings.

First of all, they snapped up Real Madrid legend Casemiro for £60m to add steel to the centre of midfield.

And then on Deadline Day, they splashed out a whopping £86m on Ajax winger Antony.

Their final signing was Martin Dubravka on loan from Newcastle to add competition in the goalkeeper position.