Manchester United linked with RB Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara as first signing under Ralf Rangnick | OneFootball

With the imminent arrival of Ralf Rangnick, Manchester United fans are excited at how the German will revolutionise the football club.

Over recent years the club have made a number of poor decisions off the pitch that have crippled them on the pitch, meaning they are further away from England’s top teams than ever before.

Superstar signings have been prioritised with little thought to how and where they will work within the current system.

While we saw a slight shift away from this policy under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, as great as he is, seemed to upset the balance and was clearly a decision based on commercial value.

With this in mind United fans will be delighted to hear the first players linked with the club since Rangnick’s arrival, as the former RB Leipzig manager is known for making shrewd signings.

Amadou Haidara is a midfielder Rangnick knows well, having signed him during his time with the Red Bull group, and could be just what United need.

The Mali international cut his teeth in the Austrian Bundesliga with RB Salzburg, before moving to sister club RB Leipzig and impressing in the German top flight.

He has made 100 appearances for Leipzig, contributing 16 goals (10 goals six assists) while often playing in a defensive midfield role.

He can also play as more of a box-to-box player and has very good progressive passes and shot creating action numbers per 90.

For example, his final full season at Salzburg saw him notch eight goals and provide a further 10 assists as the Austrian side reached the Europa League semi-finals.

On top of this he would also be available for around £33 million due to a release clause in his current contract, all the more encouraging when Declan Rice would likely cost three times as much.

It will be nice to see United linked with more smart signings under Rangnick and Haidara could be the first of many clever transfers by the club.