Manchester United are paying the price for not listening to Ralf Rangnick's transfer advice

Ralf Rangnick's brief tenure as Manchester United interim manager is not likely to ever be a period that anyone associated with the club will look back on with much fondness.

The German, who was a shock replacement for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer almost a year ago, picked up the baton at Old Trafford with United five points shy of the top four. He ended his disastrous tenure with them 13 points away from it, leaving them facing one of the biggest rebuilds in their history.

It was a gamble that backfired miserably on United's part. They should never have selected a manager - interim or otherwise - that had only been in the dugout in two of the last 10 seasons. Rangnick had shown his expertise at boardroom level, but his qualities as a manager left a lot to be desired.

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And that was evident throughout his six-month stint in charge at Old Trafford. His press conferences were often littered with hard-hitting home truths, and his intentions in that regard were clear, but matters on the pitch were dire and uninspiring.

Rangnick, though, was expected to stay at Old Trafford beyond the end of the season and take up a two-year consultancy position, which was part of the agreement when he succeeded Solskjaer. The specifics of what the role was going to entail were never disclosed, but there was a feeling that United, if they'd have wanted to see the best of the German's work, would have had to give him a big say in the direction of the club's recruitment.

Erik ten Hag, however, quickly made it clear that he was not keen on having Rangnick's input. The former RB Leipzig manager, now in charge of the Austrian national team, left the club in the same week that Ten Hag