Manchester United have passed on another player Ralf Rangnick is a huge admirer of – one who could have solved the striking crisis at the club.
Erik ten Hag's side had to play Christian Eriksen as a false nine against Brighton at the weekend, with Cristiano Ronaldo not fit enough to start and Anthony Martial sitting out through injury.
It has led the Old Trafford side to be linked with bringing in a new centre-forward before the summer transfer window slams shut, with a bid for Bologna forward Marko Arnautovic being rejected.
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One player who could solve the club's striker crisis has, though, moved elsewhere this week.
It was reported last year that Timo Werner was on Manchester United's radar after Rangnick's appointment as the interim manager saw players he'd previously worked with linked with moves to Old Trafford.
RB Leipzig signed Werner from Stuttgart while Rangnick was sporting director, with the 68-year-old then moving to the dugout as the striker scored 19 goals in 37 games during the 2018-19 season. The move to Leipzig ignited Werner's career and starting attracting interest across Europe, culminating in a move to Chelsea two years ago.
However, his time at Stamford Bridge was disappointing with just 23 goals in 89 games and a number of eye-catching misses and on Tuesday, August 9, he moved back to RB Leipzig for just £25 million – around half of what the Blues paid for him in the summer of 2020.
A move for Werner would likely not have gone down well with United fans given his struggles with Chelsea. However, it wouldn't be a total surprise to see the German impress once again now he's left north London, with the player clearly needing a change of scenery after clearly lacking confidence.
Rangnick had suggested a number of past and current Leipzig players to United, including Josko Gvardiol, Konrad Laimer and Christopher Nkunku – and it's more than possible that he may have pushed the club to bid for Werner had he taken up his consultancy role at Old Trafford.
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