Departing Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick has rejected the theory that the club will not be able to attract players without Champions League football next season.
The German likened the situation Erik ten Hag will walk into at Old Trafford to that of Jurgen Klopp's experience at Liverpool in late 2015. The Reds finished outside of the European places in his first year before securing a top four finish the season after.
In his first summer window, he brought in Joel Matip, Gini Wijnaldum, and Sadio Mane. All were part of the squad that lifted the Champions League, the Premier League and the League Cup in the years since.
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United fans will hope Ten Hag can emulate these feats in the coming years, albeit some are worried about their pulling power without Champions League qualification. However, Rangnick believes this may not be an issue in attracting players this summer, using Klopp as an example.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “It would be easier if we played Champions League but there have enough other examples - I mean when Jurgen Klopp came to Liverpool in his first season he finished eighth. He didn’t play in any European competitions from what I remembered but he still managed to bring in players like Sadio Mane, and quite a few others. So it’s possible.”
But the German stopped short of suggesting the club would be able to persuade ready-made players to join. Instead, he identified that the types of signings United should target are those who want to develop their careers to the highest level.
He added: “There are enough reasons for players who want to develop their careers. And I think this is also an important issue; that the club finds players for whom it is the next best logical step in their careers.
“Not only for financial reasons, for those players it should be the next best possible step because then that will also mean that they come for very right reasons to this club.”
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