If Ralf Rangnick had had his way at Old Trafford, Erling Haaland may have been banging in goals on the red side of Manchester rather than the blue.
Rangnick took over as interim manager at Manchester United after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking last year, and led the team to the end of the 2021-22 season.
It was a disastrous end to the season, which saw United plummet to sixth in the Premier League table, and fall to heavy defeats to Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton, and Liverpool. After that Liverpool defeat in April, Rangnick remarked that as many as ten new signings may be required to steady the ship at Old Trafford.
If he had had his way, some of those would have already arrived by April, as he revealed in an interview with BILD this week. He had assembled a high-quality list of targets - including the monstrous Erling Haaland to bolster United up front.
Erling Haaland one of the big names Ralf Rangnick wanted at Old Trafford
Ralf Rangnick was originally set to remain at Manchester United in a directorial and recruitment role, but has since moved on to take charge of the Austrian national team. Rumours at the time suggested that his successor, Erik Ten Hag, was not interested in keeping Rangnick on as an overseer of transfers.
Fans of the club may wince seeing some of the names Rangnick reputedly wanted to bring to the club during his time in charge.
The ex-United boss was quoted by BILD, and suggested that Erling Haaland was one of the players he wanted to bring to Old Trafford, as well as some of Europe's brightest talents.
It was clear to everyone that there was a need in many areas.
That’s why we were already discussing players like Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig. Those were names that were realistic.
We also talked about Alvaro Morata, Luis Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic and, as I said, Erling Haaland when they were still on the market. But the club decided at that time to rebuild the team under the new coach.
With Luis Diaz a firm fan favourite at Liverpool, Haaland tearing up the Premier League for Manchester City, and Nkunku seemingly on the verge of a move to Chelsea, it is a major case of "what if?" for Manchester United fans.
Ultimately, Rangnick was not backed with any signings in January, and would leave the club entirely at the end of his period of interim management in May.
He was not the first to attempt to bring Haaland to Old Trafford. His predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was Haaland's manager at his first club, Molde in Norway, and was persistently linked with bringing the Norwegian to United before he had even joined Borussia Dortmund.
Ultimately, Haaland would move to Borussia Dortmund in January 2020, before signing for United's arch-rivals Manchester City this summer. He has been a sensation thus far at the Etihad, scoring an incredible 22 goals in his first 16 appearances for the club.
Another goal for Erling Haaland! 🔥😳 pic.twitter.com/ThC0720bsD
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 2, 2022
The high point so far for Erling Haaland at Manchester City was his hat trick in this month's Manchester derby. United fans can only dream of Haaland being on the opposite side that day.
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