Manchester United’s Rangnick claims January striker signing was vetoed

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Ralf Rangnick has revealed his request to sign a striker in January was rejected by Manchester United despite the interim manager wanting cover after losing Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial.

Greenwood was arrested on 30 January on suspicion of rape, assault and threats to kill and suspended indefinitely, and a few days earlier Martial had joined Sevilla on loan.

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Rangnick says he had identified players including Luis Díaz, Dusan Vlahovic and River Plate’s Julián Álvarez as potential January targets but that when he asked the executive to assess adding a reinforcement he was told the market was closed.

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“I still believe that we should have tried in those 48 hours,” Rangnick said. “The board [at the time] sees it the same way – they agreed – 

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but they also spoke to the scouting department at the same time. Maybe we should have tried to sign a player in these 48 hours since we knew Mason wouldn’t be available

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and Anthony Martial had already left on loan … But we didn’t. Maybe I should have pushed even more in order to get this additional striker

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“The answer at the time was: ‘No, there is no player on the market that can really help us.’”

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Díaz joined Liverpool on 30 January and a day later City said they had signed Álvarez. Juventus had announced Vlahovic’s arrival on 28 January.

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Rangnick wonders whether United’s season could have unfolded more successfully if a forward had been added. He said of players on his list:

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“There were a few: Díaz who is now at Liverpool, Álvarez who will be at Man City in the summer, Vlahovic who at the time was with Fiorentina.

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