KEY POINTS

  • Ralf Rangnick finally opens up on his transfer policy for the upcoming winter transfer window
  • Manchester United fails to create breathing room within the roster after opting not to sell in the summer window
  • Rangnick will now be tasked with fixing his predecessor's mistakes of acquiring too much talent once the January window opens

With the January transfer window creeping up around the football world, Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has finally revealed his plans for the club.

Addressing the media via a Zoom meeting call, the legendary German tactician was very clear on the type of player that he wants to join Old Trafford for the future.

“It needs to be a player who improves the quality, who improves the team to get better, it needs to be a high-quality player, no matter in which area of the pitch. If it’s a midfielder or whatever it is, it needs to be a player who really helps us to get better.” Rangnick told the media as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.

But Rangnick also stressed that quality is not the only thing that he is looking for when looking for possible recruits for the Red Devils side who are looking to make a last-minute run for the English Premier League title.

“And it needs to be the right mentality, not only the right quality. We also need, especially for this competitive league, to have the best possible mentality. They need to be mature enough, have a winning mentality. For me, the mentality is even more crucial than anything league in the world,” the 63-year-old German stated.

Manchester United failed to move any of its major transfer candidates this past summer transfer window, and Rangnick looks to make amends for this shortcoming.

Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba all have their contracts set to end by the summer of 2022, and it remains to be seen whether Rangnick and the upper management at Manchester United will consider keeping any of them.

Lingard and his camp have been adamant at a move away from Old Trafford as soon as possible, while another longtime player in Anthony Martial has also been given the greenlight by Rangnick to ask for his transfer.

Selling both Lingard and Martial as soon as possible will give the squad a bit more breathing room in the forwards and wingers department, while youth academy graduates Anthony Elanga, Shola Shoretire and Hannibal Mejbri get their chances for more playing time.

Rangnick has an opportunity to rectify then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s mistake of acquiring too much talent once the winter transfer window opens, and it is expected that the club will have a ton of departures rather than arrivals by the time it closes on January 31, 2022.

Shola Shoretire
Shola Shoretire of Manchester United (L) fights for the ball with Silvan Hefti of Young Boys (R) during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Manchester United and BSC Young Boys at Old Trafford on December 8, 2021 in Manchester, United Kingdom. Photo by Richard Callis/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images