Ralf Rangnick worried Manchester United staff because he was right about January transfer mistake

Another January and Manchester United find themselves in need of a white knight to come galloping in.

Bruno Fernandes galvanised the squad in 2020, Odion Ighalo - signed in the same month as Fernandes - provided short-term support and three years later Wout Weghorst scored as many goals as he did for Burnley. Two.

United's inertia in recent mid-season windows is also infamous. Three months after they ended the 2022 January window weaker when it closed than they had when it had opened, Ralf Rangnick laid bare the incompetence of the club's structure.

"The answer at the time was no, there is no player on the market who would really help us," Rangnick revealed, pinning the blame on the scouting department. Could Rangnick see one on the market?

"There were a few! [Luis] Diaz, who is now at Liverpool, [Julian] Alvarez, who will be at Manchester City in the summer, [Dusan] Vlahovic, who at the time was still with Fiorentina. So those are just three of them that come across my mind now."

United were bemused by partisan reports that Liverpool were about to beat them to the signing of Diaz from Porto. Diaz, a right-footed left winger, was not on United's radar as they had four of those already: Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga and Anthony Martial (farmed out on loan to Sevilla).

Diaz has notched four goals in six games against United. Elanga, Martial and Sancho have gone and Rashford is going. It is not a flattering look.

Rangnick's comments caused such a stir two press officers returned to the press room after the Austrian's press conference and attempted to provide tenuous context. At the Amex Stadium the following day, the United press officer Karen Shotbolt approached me wondering if I could ask Rangnick about