Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick leaves door open to January departures

Posted Monday, January 24, 2022 by ESPN

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has left the door open for some of his fringe players to leave in the last week of the January transfer window.

Rangnick revealed there are "negotiations with clubs" going on behind the scenes at Old Trafford as players look to for an exit before the deadline on Jan. 31.

Sources have told ESPN that Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Donny van de Beek, Eric Bailly and Dean Henderson are among the players interested in moving in a bid to find more regular first team football.

"I don't know [what's going to happen], I know which players would want to leave," said Rangnick. "I know that there are some negotiations with clubs but I am not involved in that but I will probably be posted and made aware if something is happening. We will all have to wait and see what happens."

United, still in three competitions, are facing a hectic second half of the season. Victory over West Ham United at Old Trafford on Saturday meant they ended the weekend in the top four after both Tottenham Hotspur, who lost to Chelsea, and Arsenal, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Burnley, dropped points.

"There are other teams involved in that race, it's not only Spurs or Arsenal," he said. "Even Wolves is pushing from behind so it will probably be a race until the last couple of fixtures, but for us now it's important to know that we can win games even if it's in the last second of the game.

"This is important, that we are able to compete with those teams and win those games and not only against the teams from the bottom of the league but also against the teams like West Ham."

The win over West Ham was sealed by a last-minute goal from Marcus Rashford, his second in two games after also finding the net in the 3-1 win over Brentford.

Both goals came after Rashford was brought off the bench, but Rangnick insists the England forward is more than just an impact substitute.

"We have a lot of wingers and outstanding players in that position," said the German boss. "Jadon [Sancho] was not available [against West Ham] but we have a lot of players for those two positions and Marcus is one of them.

"Right now yes he scored twice in two consecutive games when he came from the bench but of course his ambition is to play regularly from the start and if he continuously plays on a high level and scores goals of course this is the best way back in the team and to play from the beginning."