The interim coach of Manchester United, Ralf Rangnick has made it clear that he does not have any business in trying to convince Paul Pogba or any other player to stay at the club.
Recall that since November, Paul Pogba who sustained a thigh injury while on international duty with France has been undertaking a warm-weather rehabilitation programme in Dubai.
Despite his injury woes, Manchester United have been trying to extend his contract which will expire on June 30, 2022. But the club’s effort has proven insufficient as the player is reportedly making outrageous demands.
In the midst of that, some reports claimed that Pogba is considering a couple of options which include Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, and Juventus.
This means that if Manchester United fail to extend his stay at Manchester United before next summer, the 28-year-old French midfielder would leave old Trafford on a free transfer to any of the clubs mentioned above.
Ahead of the Manchester United Premier League game against Norwich City scheduled to kick off at 18:30 later today, December 11, the club’s new coach Ralf Rangnick stressed that Manchester United is too big to beg players to stay.
He however noted that Pogba could become a very important player at the club but he should not be forced to remain at the club against the will of the player.
“Players have to want to stay and play for the club,” coach Ralf Rangnick said on Friday.
“For a big club like Manchester United, if a player does not want to play for a club like Manchester United, even in the long term, I don’t think it makes sense to convince him to change his mind.
“This is such a massive club [with] such fantastic support, I don’t think that anyone in the club should then try to convince the player to stay.
“But on the other hand, let’s wait and see. I’ve spoken with him for 15 minutes over the phone a few days ago. Let’s have him come back, get fully fit, train with the team and then we will see where we stand [and] how the team has developed by then.
“He can be an important player, I’m fully aware of that, but this is true for all the other players that we have.
“I’m not only the coach of Paul Pogba once he’s fully fit, but I’m also the coach of all the other players and my ambition is to make them better, to develop each individual player, and this is only possible by improving the performance of the whole team.”
🎙️ "We need to make sure players want to stay."
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 10, 2021
Ralf Rangnick says it is 'too early' to think about any plans for the upcoming winter transfer window at #MUFC pic.twitter.com/D1JPRokqM6
Ralf Rangnick is happy with his players at Manchester United so far
Ralf Rangnick was appointed to replace sacked coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. The German tactician was offered a 6 months deal as an interim coach and a 2-year consultancy deal.
In his first official game in charge of the club, the German tactician introduced his trademark 4-2-2-2 formation which worked perfectly against Crystal Palace on December 5. The Premier League match ended 1-0 in favor of Manchester United.
Three days later, he led Manchester United to play against Young Boys in a UEFA Champions League group stage game with 11 changes to the team that played against Crystal Palace. The experiment ended in a 1-1 draw.
Ahead of the club’s visit to Norwich City, Ralf Rangnick told reporters that he is happy with his players’ attitude and eagerness to learn.
“So far, I’m more than happy with their attitude and eagerness to learn and get information that will help them get better not only against [without] the ball but with it,” he said.
“Having only two clean sheets until the Crystal Palace game and having no clean sheets since April at Old Trafford, it was very clear for me where our first focus should be for the first couple of days and weeks.
“If we can produce more clean sheets, if we don’t even allow [the opponent] to even shoot on our goal, the more I’m convinced that we will win games because with this group of players we are always capable of creating chances and scoring goals.”
Manchester United are currently sitting on the 6th spot on the league table with 24 points in 15 games, three points below 4th placed West Ham United.
