Man Utd have ‘no intention’ of appointing Ralf Rangnick as permanent manager

Manchester United have been described as having ‘no intention’ of hiring Ralf Rangnick as their new permanent for next season, with the German set to go into a consultancy role as originally planned.

Rangnick was appointed on a short-term contract as interim manager in December to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked the previous month following a string of poor results.

From the start, it was confirmed that the 63-year-old would take charge of the team until the end of the season and then take up a new role advising on football operations until 2024. But improved performances and results later led to suggestions he could stay on as manager instead.

United have taken 25 points from a possible 36 under Rangnick’s leadership since 5 December, compared to 17 from a possible 36 under Solskjaer until 20 November.

But despite having a positive impact in difficult circumstances, Forbes has reported there has been no change to the original plan. He does not feature on the club’s new manager shortlist and will take up the aforementioned consultancy role as first intended.

United opted to go down the route of having an interim manager to provide time and flexibility as they search for a new permanent successor to take the club on, although they considered jumping to the latter stage sooner had one of their preferred candidates become available.

Mauricio Pochettino and Brendan Rodgers have long been the two leading names, with Ajax coach Erik ten Hag also increasingly linked more recently.

Gary Neville has suggested that Rangnick will ‘have a say’ in appointing his permanent successor as United manager, telling Sky Sports that he has “…a real good view of the characters, personalities, performance levels and training levels of the current group of players.”

Neville added that he would also prefer for Rangnick, who is famed for his work overseeing development and structure at Red Bull clubs, to focus more on that side of things in Manchester.

“His position as assisting the club, constructing their new methodology and structure moving forward is a longer term position for two years,” the ex-United captain explained.

“I’d rather him get that bit right; I’d rather suffer in the short-term for the longer-term perspective being right. He has got good experience around building structures in football clubs and Manchester United do need that.”