Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United contract was key to him being able to take up the vacant managerial position of Austria’s national team.
That’s according to Profil, who cover how the move came about today and how Rangnick only being required to work for six days a month at Old Trafford made a deal possible.
They explain that the ÖFB management were ‘taken aback’ by their ability to secure Rangnick’s signature, having previously written him off as unattainable.
They considered Rangnick a superstar beyond their reach, and while there had been an ‘informal phone call’ between the country and current Manchester United caretaker, it was a ‘compulsory exercise’, and nothing more, arranged via RB Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund.
Austria were at first ‘put off’ by Rangnick’s salary expectations, with it explains he ‘initially demanded many times more’ than what the ÖFB was prepared to pay.
So those in charge of the recruitment went looking elsewhere, but then Freund ‘came into the picture’ and encouraged them to keep trying for Rangnick.
Then there was a big surprise, with Rangnick offering his services to the country.
“He offered himself to us. He was really electrified. Ralf went a long way toward meeting the ÖFB’s demands,” president of the Lower Austrian provincial government Johann Gartner is quoted as saying.
According to the newspaper, Rangnick will now pay an annual salary of €1-1.5m from his new job; a significant drop from his initial demands.
Rangnick, say Profil, was not looking for millions but ‘the perfect game’, something he has found ‘lacking’ at Manchester United.
A preliminary contract was then drawn up by Austria, and they were then helped in proceedings by the deal Rangnick has signed at Old Trafford.
Rather than being tied down to Manchester United, he is a ‘soccer consultant’ and so can therefore work multiple jobs at once, and his contract at Old Trafford reflects that as it ‘provides for multiple employment’.
“If United had wanted to employ him full-time, they would have done so,” a close Rangnick confidant told them, “but they have signed him on as an advisor.”
Indeed, Rangnick is reportedly only ‘obliged’ to spend six days a month providing his services to Manchester United, meaning he is free to use the rest of his time focusing on Austria.
It’s an interesting situation, to say the least, but it seems those criticising him for splitting his time would be advised to think twice, as it is the club, not Rangnick, who has seemingly made the situation possible.
