Former Manchester United Ralf Rangnick has hailed Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate as one of his greatest ever signings – but was once blocked from signing Luis Diaz
Former Manchester United Ralf Rangnick has hailed Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate as one of his greatest ever signings. The Reds signed the France international in a £35m deal from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021.
But it was Rangnick who was partly responsible for signing the 25-year-old for the Bundesliga outfit during his time as Red Bull Director of Football. Konate joined Leipzig from Ligue 2 side Sochaux in 2017, and went on to make 95 appearances for the German side during four seasons with the club.
And speaking to Canal+, as quoted by Get Football News France, the current Austria manager has heaped praise on the Liverpool defender when recalling when he first became aware of the defender.
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“I remember very well the day our scouting department in Leipzig showed clips from your Sochaux days,” he said in a video addressed to his former player. “I instantly fell in love with your game.
“I saw straight away you were an amazing person and player with a top-class upbringing. All of the latter proved true.
“You are without doubt the best signing, or one of the best signings, we did at Leipzig in the last 12 years.”
Watching the video message, Konate was deeply moved by the tribute from Rangnick as he said: “He’s an extremely important person to me.”
But while Rangnick was successful in signing Konate for RB Leipzig, he was left frustrated in his efforts to sign another current Liverpool player during his time in the Manchester United dugout.
The 66-year-old took over as interim manager at Old Trafford in December 2021 as he succeeded Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In his only transfer window in charge, United failed to sign a player. But it wasn’t despite the efforts of the German.
Rangnick wanted to sign a new forward, with Luis Diaz on his radar and one of nine players he urged the Red Devils to pursue at the time.
“We lost three strikers, long-term,” Rangnick bemoaned to reporters in May 2022. “We should have tried to sign a player in the 48 hours we had, since we knew Mason (Greenwood) wouldn’t be available and Anthony (Martial) had already left on loan.
“We were also aware Edinson (Cavani) might not be available for eight out of 10 games, but we didn’t do it. There were a few: Diaz, who is now at Liverpool; (Julian) Alvarez, who will be at Manchester City in the summer; and (Dusan) Vlahovic, who at the time was still with Fiorentina.
“The answer was ‘no’ and that was it. I spoke to the board and told them ‘shouldn’t we at least speak and analyse and find if we can at least get a player, on loan or a permanent deal?’
“In the end the answer was ‘no’. Maybe they didn’t want to do any winter business. Maybe we should have at least discussed it internally, because it might be necessary and important.
“It would have been short notice anyway but still, 48 hours is 48 hours. It might have been at least worth a try. But we didn’t and it wasn’t done.”
He would later echo such sentiments when speaking to BILD the following October.
“There was no such [transfer] dossier, and it was never wanted by the club,’ Rangnick said. “But even without such a script, it was clear to everyone that there was a need in many areas.
“That’s why we were already discussing players like Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig. Those were names that were realistic.
“We also talked about Alvaro Morata, Luis Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic and, as I said, Erling Haaland when they were still on the market. But the club decided at that time to rebuild the team under the new coach.”
When appointed interim manager at Old Trafford, it was confirmed that Rangnick would stay on in a consultancy role for a further two years. However, he left the club altogether that summer after a poor stint in charge which saw him win only 11 of his 29 matches, finish sixth in the Premier League and suffer premature exits from both the Champions League and FA Cup.
Who knows how differently his fortunes could have fared had United listened to his transfer advice that winter. Regardless, the Red Devils’ loss was Liverpool’s gain.
Diaz joined the Reds from FC Porto in a deal worth up to £49m and was an instant success at Anfield, returning six goals and four assists from his first half-season with the club as he helped them win both the League Cup and FA Cup. Meanwhile, he missed out on winning an unprecedented quadruple as Liverpool missed out on the Premier League title by a solitary point and lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
The Colombian is currently in the form of his Reds career, boasting nine goals and two assists from just 16 appearances under new head coach, Arne Slot, to help fire Liverpool to the top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables.
In contrast, having waited for Erik ten Hag to succeed Rangnick before investing again in their squad, United sacked the Dutchman late last month after a poor start to the season.
While he would win the League Cup and FA Cup during his two full campaigns with the club, he led United to a disappointing eighth place finish in the Premier League last season. And the Dutchman’s recruitment during his time in charge regularly came under question.
Spendly roughly £620m, Ten Hag was responsible for signing the likes of Antony (£86.3m), Casemiro (£70m), Mason Mount (£60m) and Andre Onana (£47.2m). Only United bosses will know deep down if they stand by their decision to not back Rangnick in the transfer market and instead hold back for the now sacked Dutchman’s arrival.
