Ralf Rangnick has confirmed he will be staying on in a consultancy role at Manchester United into next season, though the position would allow him to take on a job elsewhere.
Rangnick joined United as interim manager in November following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the initial terms of the deal seeing him in charge until the end of the season before taking on a backroom role.
The exact criteria and expectations of that consultancy position were not confirmed at the time and, even until recent weeks there was a degree of uncertainty around whether the role would exist at all after the appointment of Erik ten Hag.
Rangnick’s pre-match comments ahead of Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea belied a certain confidence on the German’s part that he would still be working with the club in some capacity next season.
Reports then began to circulate that Rangnick is set to become Austria’s next head coach, but such a job would seemingly not prevent him from also assisting United.
“Let us speak tonight about Manchester United and our game, the rest of the season here – this is the issue,” Rangnick told Sky Sports when asked about the Austria reports.
“I can also confirm I will also definitely continue at the end of the season with my consultancy role.
“I didn’t say I would be a big part going forward, but we have definitely agreed now both on the content and the time of my consultancy role.
“So far we haven’t spoken, Erik and I, but this will hopefully and probably happen in the future, but as I said, I’m more than happy and willing to help, to change things for the better.
“It would leave space for another job, but that’s what we had agreed to start with back in November last year.”