Ralph Rangnick has warned the Manchester United hierarchy if they can never make another mistake in the transfer marker to catch up with rivals Man City and Liverpool.
United interim manager leads his side at the Etihad for Sunday’s derby, with City once again battling Jurgen Klopp’s team for the title and fourth-placed and looking to an increasingly tall order for Rangnik’s men.
It marks a dramatic fall for United, eventual champions in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2013.
And Rangnik has no doubt that his club’s transfer record compared to City and Liverpool leaves much to be desired.
“Signing players who fit into that system, with a clear transfer strategy; This is what both the clubs have been doing in the last five or six years,” Rangnik said.
“If I look at his transfer policy and his transfer success, he doesn’t have that many players who, after a year or two, people would have said it was probably not the right signing.
“Both clubs have been very successful and this is where Manchester United need to go again.”
Within the past five years, United have made poor investments in Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Donny van de Beek and Dan James.
There are also major question marks over the inflated prices paid for stars such as Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fred and Jadon Sancho, while the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer can hardly be described as an unqualified success. Is.
And while the lack of consistency in the manager’s office has clearly been a factor, Rangnick, who is set to remain in a consulting role at Old Trafford this summer, has insisted he does not repeat such poor business decisions. cannot take the risk.
“Under Sir Alex they were there, but have been a somewhat different manager since then,” Rangnik said. “And to close the gap between those two clubs I would not say that we have to do the same thing, as a club we have our own identity, which should always go its own way.
“But professional football is very simple, you have to have an identity of how you want to play, even how the supporters want us to play, and it has always been attractive, aggressive, active football; recreational football.
“And then from there to make sure the recruiting is right, you have to be fast enough, quite fast in the transfer market, knowing the transfer market and signing the right players at the right time.
“On top of that, you need the best possible manager and coaching staff who can develop the players.”
With United facing a hectic summer not only to appoint a new manager but also to conduct extensive transfer activity, Rangnik believes the final three months of the current campaign will keep players at Old Trafford. Give us a chance to stake our claims for the future.
“Of course it should happen all the time in professional football,” he said. “Players must know what they have to perform in order to play, or for a new contract – or to be retained at the club. That has to be the case all the time in professional football.
“Now for us it is about getting the best out of this current team. I can assure you that the locker room environment, the focus on training, we don’t mind.
“About the noise outside, about players not being focused in training, that is not right. They get on well with each other, getting their full attention in every session.
“It’s about us – with our kind of football, the areas we have improved – to get the best possible results in the games to come.”
Source
