Former England and Liverpool striker Stan Collymore believes that Manchester United should refrain from appointing Ralf Rangnick as permanent manager next season.
The German has steadied the ship after the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, losing just one of his ten games in charge.
Despite the results, Collymore feels that United would be unable to attract top-class players with Rangnick at the helm.
He states in The Dailt Mirror: “I’m a bit sceptical because I don’t know of any A-grade players who will be saying, ‘I want to go and play for Ralf Rangnick’.”
“They might want to go and play for United but they aren’t going to want to play for him in the same way as players will be looking at the cults of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Pep Guardiola, Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp and saying, ‘I’ll have a bit of that’.”
He also believes that the club should not be convinced by a series of good results and that they risk making a similar ’emotional’ decision as they did in 2019 by appointing Solskjaer.
In his weekly podcast, Fabrizio Romano stated that Man Utd want to back the new manager next summer and hence refrained from signing anyone this transfer window.
Manchester United will be spending money on the next manager, so the club didn't want to bring in players the new manager might not want. [ @FabrizioRomano, @podcastherewego] pic.twitter.com/SOh6wf3RXQ
— United Zone (@ManUnitedZone_) February 1, 2022
It is a clear indication that Rangnick would move to his consultancy role at the end of the season, with a new coach arriving.
The Athletic has previously mentioned the four names in United’s managerial shortlist – Mauricio Pochettino, Luis Enrique, Erik ten Hag and Julen Lopetegui.
While Collymore might well be right to a certain extent, he forgets that Rangnick has been one of the most respected minds in football over the past decade.
The 63 year old is often referred to as the godfather of the gegenpress and has inspired coaches like Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann.
He was pivotal in building the Red Bull project and will be heavily involved in United’s structural change following the departure of Ed Woodward.