Ralf Rangnick, the soon-to-be interim manager of Manchester United, failed to sign Norwegian sensation Erling Haaland during his former post as sporting director of RB Leipzig.

Last year, Ralf Rangnick acknowledged that he was unable to recruit Erling Haaland for RB Leipzig because he would not have made the starting XI.

Rangnick has agreed to take over as Manchester United’s interim manager till the end of the season after reaching an agreement with the club.

The 63-year-old is currently the head of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow, although he is set to step down in the near future.

Formerly of Hannover, Schalke, Hoffenheim, and RB Leipzig, he is recognized as the “Father of Gegenpressing,” having influenced Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel.

Rangnick has been a manager since 1983, but he has also had positions outside of the training ground, such as sporting director and manager at RB Leipzig.

The German has a reputation for shrewd transfer market maneuvering, acquiring young, undervalued players and grooming them into superstars.

In January 2019, Red Bull Salzburg, who is part of the same conglomerate as Leipzig, signed Haaland from Molde.

The Norwegian striker went on to score 29 goals in just 27 appearances for the Austrian side, piqueing rival clubs’ attention.

Salzburg have a well-trodden pathway to Leipzig, but Haaland bucked the trend by moving to Borussia Dortmund in January 2020 for a reported fee of just $25million.

The transfer was a huge coup for Dortmund – and represented a missed opportunity for RB Leipzig, who were then on then up under Julian Nagelsmann.

“From everything I know about him and his father, the main reason he moved there was that Dortmund could guarantee him a regular place,” Rangnick admitted to MDR in September 2020.

“That wasn’t so difficult because they didn’t have a central striker apart from Paco Alcacer, who is half the size of Haaland and gets injured quickly and regularly.

“It was a great shame that he is the first player that RB Leipzig, since reaching the Bundesliga, have missed out on from Salzburg.

“What a shame it is for Leipzig, he would have suited us, our team and our style of play.

Rangnick’s hope has yet to play out, with Sorloth having contributed just six goals and three assists in 37 games for Leipzig.

He is currently out on loan with Real Sociedad, while Haaland has gone on to break goal scoring records with regularity at Dortmund.

The 21-year-old striker has already scored 70 goals and contributed 19 assists in just 69 games for Dortmund and is arguably the hottest prospect in world football.

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