Ralf Rangnick is now officially Manchester United's interim manager, having secured a work permit, and will be in charge of the team when they play Crystal Palace on Sunday.
As is tradition, he took questions from the press on Friday morning. One of the answers will catch the attention of anyone hoping that United do some serious business in the next two transfer windows.
Christian Falk of BILD had claimed Rangnick has a clause in his contract that would see him earn €10 million if he could convince striker Erling Haaland to join United.
Rangnick responded in a cheerful manner, rubbishing this claim, nd saying; "€10m for Erling Haaland, €10m for Kylian Mbappe, €10m for Robert Lewandowski and €10m for Joshua Kimmich...
"This is nonsense obviously. There is no such clause in my contract. It doesn't make sense to speculate over any new players ."
He stated how fantastic a player Haaland was, but he seemingly made a Freudian slip in his initial statement. Kimmich has never been linked to United and, with the other three being strikers, perhaps he has a defensive midfielder in mind for the near future.
Kimmich played under Rangnick at RB Leipzig. He is close to the complete midfielder and has been a vital part of Bayern Munich's Bundesliga and Champions League-winning sides.
He has made 279 appearances for Bayern, scoring 33 goals and registering 75 assists, showing how he can contribute in attack while also being defensively solid. During Pep Guardiola's Bayern tenure, Kimmich frequently featured at right-back and even in the centre of defence.
Transfermarkt value the Germany international at £81million and, with a contract that runs until 2025 at one of the best club's in Europe, it is unlikely that United can prise him away from Bayern. However, there is still a chance that Rangnick moves for a midfielder.
The Times has reported that Leipzig's Malian midfielder Amadou Haidara is under consideration for a transfer as early as January.
Rangnick was involved in the transfer to bring him to the Bundesliga outfit and, in 2019, he said of the player: "We have another absolute top player on our hands, I've known [that] for a while."
Haidara has a release clause of £33 million, so it would not be hard to secure his services. Alongside Fred in midfield, he would create a hardworking pivot that could be the bedrock of Rangnick's tenure and beyond.
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