Premier League
Ralf Rangnick refuses to rule out becoming permanent Manchester United manager
Ralf Rangnick has said he could be willing to continue as the Manchester United manager beyond his six-month contract as the interim.
Rangnick attended United’s 3-2 Premier League win over Arsenal on Thursday night and will take official charge of the team in Sunday’s visit of Crystal Palace.
The 63-year-old German was introduced to the press at Old Trafford on Friday morning and is due to meet the players who did not play in the Arsenal game for a training session at 3pm.
Rangnick is due to start a two-year consultancy role at United after his interim manager contract expires in June but he refused to rule out the possibility of staying on.
Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino has been earmarked as United’s preferred permanent candidate but the club also admire Ajax coach Erik ten Hag and Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers.
“The people with whom I’ve spoken so far have been very clear we are talking about six-and-a-half months role as a manager, currently,” Rangnick said. “We have never spoken about what will happen in the summer.
“Right now, I’m fully aware they might be looking for a new manager. If they will then speak with me about that, we will see.
“Maybe, if they ask me for my opinion, and, as you say, everything goes well, we develop the team, I might even make the same recommendation to the board that I made at Leipzig twice, when I recommended to them it might be a good idea to keep working with me for one year.
“But this is all hypothetical, we cannot speak about it. For me, now, it’s about winning the next games and this is the major focus.”
Chelsea approached Rangnick about taking interim charge midway through last season after they sacked Frank Lampard but he rejected the offer as he felt he would have been a ‘lame duck’ of a manager.
Rangnick rejected United’s opening offer but accepted their revised terms, which included the consultancy role. Rangnick, previously the head of sports development at Lokomotiv Moscow, said he could not reject the chance to manage United.
“At the time when Chelsea contacted me in February, we spoke only about the interim manager for four months, without any perspective to work in the long-term together and here now we are talking about six-and-a-half months,” Rangnick explained.
“So we only have one-third of the games played in the Premier League and, as you all know, we have agreed on a two-year advisory role after those six-and-a-half months and in the end, to be honest, when a club like Manchester United contacts you for such a role you cannot possibly turn it down.”
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Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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