Ralf Rangnick departs Manchester United as a consultant the club did not want to consult

It may not seem a spectacular success, but Ralf Rangnick’s time as a consultant to Manchester United could rank only behind Michael Carrick’s reign as caretaker manager during their season. After all, United went unbeaten in the six days between Erik ten Hag’s unveiling, signalling he had taken the reigns, and the confirmation of Rangnick’s departure from his second job. If, that is, he ever really started it.

He goes by mutual consent and that feels one of the few things Rangnick and United do agree on. So ends one of the strangest interludes in the club’s history but amid a sense of what might have been. As long as Rangnick remained involved at Old Trafford, there was the chance United might tap into his expertise, that a club with an awful record in the transfer market – as he was rarely slow to point out – might make the kind of far-sighted deals for emerging talents that aided Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig. There may be sighs of relief from Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel that United are less likely to rival them for their targets. United could at least be spared the image of someone on their wage bill appearing to be paid by them to manage Austria.

But the finality of it means United part company with Rangnick without utilising his greatest strengths; one or two players in recent years may know how that feels. They hired a sporting director to be manager and, rather than tapping into his knowledge of how to run a club, told him they wanted him to concentrate on coaching. The evidence of the last six months is that, if Rangnick ever was a world-class manager, he is not now. He was only ever an effective manager with players who suited his style of play. United had few of those.

He has a track record of choosing