Ralf Rangnick: Three or four new players ‘not enough’ to fix Manchester United

The head coach will move upstairs into a consultancy role at the end of the campaign

Rangnick believes a big overhaul may be required at Manchester United (Manchester United via Getty Imag)

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick believes signing three or four players in the summer still may not be enough to turn around the club’s fortunes.

The wait for a trophy has now stretched to five years, with Man Utd also in danger of missing out on the top four in the Premier League and therefore Champions League football next season.

Rangnick is set to move upstairs into a consultancy role at the end of the campaign, with Ajax manager Erik ten Hag heavily tipped to take over at Old Trafford.

But Rangnick feels, irrespective of which coach comes in, that a major overhaul of the team may be required.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “The players have to give their very best no matter who the next manager will be, and if he’s announced in one or two or three weeks, I don’t think that this affects the current situation we’re in.

“But yes, of course it’s important to know who will be the new manager, because to start the recruitment process, to find the best possible players only makes sense if you know who will be the manager and how does he want to play.

“There might be a couple of players - and I have already named those players to the board - that independent from formation, from style of football, and independent from a new manager, that could be of interest for a club like United.

“But in general, if you look at the size of the way the team needs to be rebuilt, I mean, it’s not enough to bring in three or four new players. It will be more, bearing in mind how many players will no longer be here with the contracts running out.”

Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard are all set to leave the club when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

A number of other players’ futures have also been called into question including the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Dean Henderson and Donny van de Beek.

Meanwhile, Man Utd face an uphill battle in their pursuit of fourth place in the Premier League.

They were given a boost with a 3-2 victory over Norwich at the weekend, but now they face the huge task of travelling to Anfield to take on title-chasing Liverpool on Tuesday night.