Manchester United’s Ralf Ragnick is new Austria manager

Manchester United’s interim coach, Ralf Rangnick, was named Austria’s coach on Friday, the Central European country’s football federation announced, a month after Franco Foda’s departure.

The 63-year-old German, who will continue in parallel as a director of the English club, will sign a first two-year contract, the organization said in a statement.

In addition, it will be automatically extended for another two years if he manages to qualify for Eurocopa-2024 in Germany, his native country.

“I will take over as head of the Austrian national team at the end of the season, but will continue my advisory activity at Manchester United,” it added in a separate statement.

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Rangnick will spend a maximum of six days a month at Manchester United, the Austrian federation said. It will debut at the end of May to prepare for Nations League matches against Croatia, Denmark and France.

Rangnick had already worked in Austria as sports director of RB Salzburg between 2012 and 2015. The German Franco Foda announced at the end of March his departure from the Austrian coach post after being eliminated in the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Foda had been in the job for more than four years, having contributed to Austria’s first qualification for the European Championship knockout stage in June 2021.

AFP