Ralf Rangnick has revealed he is in contact with Manchester United chiefs over their summer transfer plans.
The 63-year-old, who was appointed as interim manager at the end of last year, is set to take on a two-year consultancy role at the end of the season. Erik ten Hag is in the process of becoming the next permanent boss, with an announcement confirming his arrival expected imminently.
And Rangnick has suggested that he has already selected at least two players that should be recruited by the club, regardless of who is in the dugout next term. In an interview with Sky Sports, the German was asked whether the noise surrounding the managerial search had impacted his squad.
"I don't think so, no,” he explained. "The players have to give their very best no matter who the next manager will be, and if he's announced in one or two or three weeks, I don't think that this affects the current situation we're in.
“But yes, of course it's important to know who will be the new manager, because to start the recruitment process, to find the best possible players only makes sense if you know who will be the manager and how does he want to play.
“There might be a couple of players - and I have already named those players to the board - that independent from formation, from style of football, and independent from a new manager, that could be of interest for a club like United.”
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Ten Hag will reportedly have the power to veto any recruitment decisions prior to his appointment, but Rangnick has warned the Dutchman that the scale of the United rebuild will be a grand one.
Rangnick added: “If you look at the size of the way the team needs to be rebuilt, I mean, it's not enough to bring in three or four new players. It will be more, bearing in mind how many players will no longer be here with the contracts running out.
“I think apart from the goalkeeping, we need to make sure that we improve the squad in all areas. To bring in players who really help the team to get better - again, it's about the profile. What kind of players do we need in order to play whichever kind of football we want to play?"
Asked for his philosophy on helping United return to prominence, he claimed that players need to be brought in with an eye on the future and independent on whoever the manager may be.
That's what we actually did both in Hoffenheim and with Leipzig and Salzburg,” Rangnick explained. “But again, this is rather the exception to the rule. It is one possible pathway that you have people who more or less tell the club and the supporters what our corporate identity should be and how do we want to play.
“What kind of manager do we need in order to play like that, and what kind of players? As I said, this role has so far not a big tradition in this country, and I don't know if this can or will happen in the future."
