Rangnick ‘fury’ at Man Utd revealed as club missed out on ‘one of best players in Premier League’ | OneFootball

Ralf Rangnick was reportedly “furious” with Man Utd last January as they decided against signing any new players during the winter window.

It is fair to say that Man Utd were a sh*t-show from top to bottom last season and that resulted in a shocking season on the pitch.

Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer towards the end of 2021 and he was due to take up a consultancy role from this summer.

This is not how it ended up as before the end of last season it was confirmed that Rangnick would leave to become the manager of Austria.

The 64-year-old was quick to identify what was wrong at Man Utd and he was keen for them to make signings during the winter window.

United’s hierarchy felt differently though and Rangnick was left “furious” at the club’s lack of activity, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The transfer guru has revealed that Man Utd passed on opportunities to pursue Julian Alvarez, Dusan Vlahovic and Luis Diaz.

Vlahovic was also linked with Arsenal but he joined Juventus instead in January. Alvarez meanwhile has signed for Man City and he has already impressed when given the opportunity.

Diaz did initially look likely to join Tottenham, but Liverpool beat them to the signing after “hijacking” their Premier League rivals.

Romano has confirmed that Man Utd “were not reacting” last January as they “missed important opportunities”:

“The 2023 January transfer window will be an important one for the club’s project, but for it to be a success they need to learn from the mistakes of last year,” Romano wrote for Caught Offside.

“The mistake was clear: Ralf Rangnick, who was at that time interim manager and preparing to become a consultant to work with the board and with Erik ten Hag, was furious with Man United because they didn’t want to sign any players last January.

“They had some opportunities, but they didn’t want to sign a striker, specifically.

“Julian Alvarez was of one of those players – he was offered to United and other clubs, he had a release clause, and was a player Rangnick had on his list at Lokomotiv Moscow.

“In the end, Man United decided not to proceed, and now Man City have this really good striker, for the present and the future.

“Dusan Vlahovic was another opportunity, and he ended up joining Juventus – United didn’t even try to enter the picture.

“We’ve also heard a lot about Luis Diaz being wanted by Tottenham and West Ham, before Liverpool hijacked the deal and changed the story in 48 hours, signing one of the best players in the Premier League right now.

“United were not reacting, and missed important opportunities, and so Rangnick was furious at the lack of activity.”

It has already been reported that Erik ten Hag will not be given any money to spend in the next transfer window.

But Romano went onto warn United that they need to be “ready for big opportunities”:

“Now it’s a different era, they’re doing well with new signings under Erik ten Hag But, it’s crucial that they’re ready for big opportunities if they arise in January,” Romano continued.

“The club would ideally like to strengthen next summer, with factors like Champions League football still to be decided.

“Still, Ten Hag would like to see them react on the market, to see if there will be big opportunities in January – it’s an unpredictable window, there could be another Luis Diaz or Dusan Vlahovic opportunity, and Ten Hag wants United to be ready.

“The mistake of last January can’t be repeated, that’s really important. Liverpool’s plan was initially to sign Luis Diaz in the summer, but because of the interest from Tottenham they decided to push immediately.

“Liverpool were really fast, and it’s important to have that kind of structure. United need to make that one of their missions if they want to make this new era a success.”