Jürgen Klopp will not be joining Barcelona, having made his immediate next steps after Liverpool clear. A Man United flop could be a surprise beneficiary.
Ex-Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick could be up for a top job at Barcelona, despite having a tough time at Old Trafford. Rangnick, 65, is well-respected in Germany and has had a successful career, but his stint at United was challenging.
After Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked, United appointed Rangnick as manager in December 2021 on an interim basis until the end of the season. He was supposed to continue in a consultancy role for two more years. However, he admitted that he was disappointed with his performance, winning only 11 out of 29 games.
One of those games came against Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool. It was a comfortable win for the Reds, who ran out resounding 4-0 winners at Anfield, featuring a brace from Mohamed Salah.
While he was still the boss at United, it was announced that Rangnick would become the manager of Austria. This meant that he didn’t continue his consultancy role at United. Instead, he led Austria to qualify for Euro 2024.
This achievement seemingly caught the attention of Barcelona president Joan Laporta. The club is looking for a new manager after it was recently announced that Xavi will be stepping down at the end of the season.
Liverpool boss Klopp has been suggested as a possibility but it’s highly unlikely he’ll take another role straight away as he’s previously spoken about plans for a break, even if Barca comes knocking. There’s no doubt he is the dream candidate, but he has already made his stance very clear. Former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick has also been named, along with Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann — a left-field contender for the Reds job.
Spanish outlet Sport has named Rangnick as one of the possible options to succeed Xavi at Camp Nou. The report claims that the club is considering a wide range of German coaches for the role, with Rangnick being one of the names that interests Laporta.
Despite a tough time in the Premier League, Rangnick is still recognized for nurturing young talent and was instrumental in RB Leipzig’s rise to a Champions League club. The 65-year-old’s immediate task will be getting ready for this summer’s European Championships with Austria. But while several other managers have been associated with the upcoming opening at Barcelona, perhaps Klopp’s clear stance on life after Liverpool could open the door for him.
According to Liverpool.com Rangnick should not be judged too harshly for his struggles at Manchester United. That club has chewed up and spat out more or less anyone who has gone there since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Klopp will be more familiar with Rangnick from his time in Germany and elsewhere in Europe — where he was the partial architect of the Red Bull powerhouse — and may well consider his compatriot a reasonable option for Barcelona. But if he was hoping for his next club job to be a little less chaotic, then perhaps the Nou Camp is not the right pick. He’d soon come to envy the Liverpool manager’s sabbatical!
