Ralf Rangnick has asked the Manchester United board to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves for his sporting project this January, and reports claim that the club is considering the signing.
Rangnick is said to be desperately pushing for reinforcements especially in the middle of the park at Old Trafford and Neves is one his prime targets.
The United hierarchy are reportedly ready to back the interim manager and submit the £35 million bid to Wolves for Neves, a player who they have gone after in the past.
The 24-year-old midfielder has two years left on his Wolves contract and is reportedly happy to be at Molineux. However, he does not look like extending his contract and United are aware of this fact.
Wolves, however, will not entertain any offers below £40 million but are more interested in keeping the midfielder at the club.
Rangnick’s midfield problems
Ralf Rangnick has struggled to implement his style at Manchester United largely due to his distrust of the club’s current midfield.
In recent times, he has settled for a 4-2-2-2 formation that is attack heavy as a result of this. Dutch midfielder, Donny van de Beek, who moved to Old Trafford from Ajax Amsterdam last season, has not been given enough opportunities to impress in the middle of the park and Paul Pogba’s future at Old Trafford is uncertain.
Rangnick also has only Scott McTominay, Fred, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata as his other central midfield options, who don’t exactly inspire confidence in the fan base.
Sky Sports claim that as well as scouting Neves, United have their sights set on Marseille’s 22-year-old midfielder, Boubacar Kamara, who is out of contract with the French club in the summer.
United will have to move quickly though with Newcastle and Roma also interested in Kamara.
Manchester United squad not confident in Rangnick
Elsewhere, reports have emerged from the dressing room at United which claim that sections of the United squad are unhappy with the German as their manager.
The reports claim that these sections of the Manchester United squad have privately admitted the club made a huge mistake in not bringing in Antonio Conte as their new manager.
The German has developed a reputation at the club for being ‘aloof and overconfident’ and players are not taking kindly to this character display, bemoaning the missed opportunity to bring in current Tottenham Hotspur boss Conte.
Conte was touted as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s replacement for most of the Norwegian’s tenure at Old Trafford and even after his sack. The board instead chose to go for an interim manager, allowing the Italian to get snapped up by Spurs.
The reports further claims that the disenfranchised sections of the squad are looking at playing under current Paris Saint-Germain manager, Mauricio Pochettino, next season.
The Argentine has been touted with a move to Old Trafford for more than four seasons and Sir Alex Ferguson rates him very highly which puts him in pole position for the United job after Rangnick’s interim tenure is done.
