Erik Ten Hag's Reluctance To Work With Ralf Rangnick Led To German's Manchester United Departure

Ralf Rangnick departed Manchester United at the end of last season following his interim reign, with Erik ten Hag having been reluctant to work with the German.

That's according to Rob Dawson of ESPN, who reported that Ten Hag's hesitation to have Rangnick in the proposed consultancy role was a clear reason for the sudden exit of the former RB Leipzig man.

Despite rumours that the 63-year-old left the club on his own accord, the report also revealed that it was the club that initiated the termination of his contract.

However, Rangnick was already unhappy with the situation after he was not granted a formal handover with the new manager.

The new Austria manager was under the impression that he would have a face-to-face talk with Ten Hag to speak in detail about a number of topics.

Ralf Rangnick, interim manager at Manchester United last season. (Alamy)

However, the new United boss opted only to talk with Rangnick on the phone.

Rangnick was certainly outspoken during his time at Old Trafford.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the results throughout his tenure and was often thought to be avoiding blame.

He led the team to a sixth place finish, with the worst points total for the Reds in Premier League history.

Dawson's report follows on from this, mentioning that United bosses had become increasingly exasperated by some of Rangnick's public comments, particularly that as many as 10 new signings were necessary this summer.

United asked Rangnick to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of his departure.

The manager was extremely critically of different aspects of how the club was run.

Some supporters felt that he was doing more harm than good, and others thought the opposite.

Rangnick left United shortly after Ten Hag's appointment as manager (Image: Shutterstock)

Yet, the decision for him to leave the club was ultimately the correct one if it was due to Ten Hag.

The new manager deserved to work amongst a team that he was comfortable working in.

If that did not include Rangnick, who had already agreed to take a job with the Austrian national team, then it was for the best.

Tom Keane is now set to join Manchester United on a consultancy basis, seemingly taking a similar role to the one Rangnick would've operated in.

Brother of Michael Keane, who was formally a United player, Tom is a solicitor from legal firm Brandsmiths.

“In sport, Tom has vast experience in the football industry where he has become a trusted advisor and representative for household name players, managers and pundits,” Brandsmiths website details.

“His work for these clients includes negotiating high value transfers, contracts and endorsement agreements.”