Ralf Rangnick has confirmed he'll take up his planned consultancy role at Manchester United even though he's set to become Austria's national team coach.
90min understands that Austria have approached 63-year-old Rangnick about taking over from Franco Foda, who left his position in March after being eliminated by Wales in the World Cup qualification play-off, and his appointment could be announced in the coming days.
News of Rangnick potentially taking the job fuelled speculation that he would not be staying on at United as initially planned, with a two-year consultancy role agreed when he became interim manager at the end of last year.
But speaking in the aftermath of United's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford, Rangnick quashed talk that he would leave the club now that Erik ten Hag has been appointed as United's new permanent manager, and confirmed he's staying put - while he also reacted to another disappointing performance from the Red Devils at home.
What did Rangnick say about his consultancy role at Man Utd?
"Tonight is our game against Chelsea and I don't want to speak about anything else," Rangnick said. "Please accept that and except that, so please ask questions about tonight's game.
When pressed further, he continued: "I said let us speak about the game. What I can tell you and confirm is I will definitely continue with my consultancy role at the end of the season and for the next two years and I'm very much looking forward to that.
"We haven't spoken, Erik and myself, but we have spoken with the board about the content, the profile of the job, the content of that consultancy role, we spoke about that and that's why I can now confirm I will definitely continue with that."
Listen now to 90min's brand new podcast, Talking Transfers, with Scott Saunders & Graeme Bailey. Toby Cudworth joins the show to discuss how Erik ten Hag's appointment may affect Man Utd's pursuit of Paul Mitchell. There is also chat on the futures of Jesse Lingard & David de Gea and a look at what Newcastle are planning this summer.
What did Rangnick say about Man Utd's performance against Chelsea?
"We were fortunate in the first-half," Rangnick admitted. "We needed some great saves by David [de Gea] again and some last-ditch tackles.
"I thought in the second half we were better. We had more moments when we could get hold of the ball, although we conceded a goal after 60 minutes, we showed a great reaction, with an amazing assist by Nemanja [Matic] and a great finish from Cristiano.
"In the last 20 minutes, it was an open game, they could have scored and we were fortunate when Reece James hit the post. But we also had our moments. Cristiano could have scored another one or two goals.
"But, overall, we have to admit we were fortunate to get that point. But the reaction we showed in the second-half was good. There is no reason to blame anyone with regard to attitude but you could see we were far away from controlling the game when Chelsea were in possession of the ball."
Source : 90min