Jurgen Klopp admits Ralf Rangnick’s arrival at Manchester United is ‘not good news’ for Liverpool

Ralf Rangnick’s move to Manchester United as interim manager is imminent following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s departure last weekend.

Rangnick is set to take over from Michael Carrick, who has been in charge while the club search for the Norwegian’s temporary replacement.

The Head of Sports and Development at Lokomotiv Moscow has been huge influencial figure in German football, with Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel both crediting Rangnick for their success in coaching.

Rangnick is primarly known for his tactics of ‘Gegenpressing’ - a method that Klopp’s Liverpool have done so well since the German’s arrival on Merseyside in 2015.

In Klopp’s press conference ahead of the Reds’ match against Southampton this weekend, the former Borussia Dortmund boss was quick to praise Rangnick - however noted that it was unfortunate he was joining Liverpool’s fierce rivals.

Klopp said: "Unfortunately a good coach is coming to England, that's how it is, to Manchester United.

"United will be organised on the pitch, we should realise that - that's obviously not good news for other teams!

"But all coaches in the word, we need time to train with our teams and Ralf will pretty quickly realise he has no time to train as they play all the time, so that makes it a bit tricky for him.

"Apart from that, a really good man and an outstanding coach, if it happens, will come to England.”

If Rangnick is to join the Red Devils then it will be his first coaching job outside of Germany.

During his time in his home countryt the 63-year-old won promotion to the top-flight with Hannover, reached the semi-finals of the Champions league with Schalke and played an important role in guiding RB Leipzig from the fourth division to establishing themselves as regulars at the top of the Bundesliga.

While the former midfielder enjoyed coaching success, Klopp - nine years his junior - was earning a name for himself with Mainz and Borussia Dortmund as he looked up to Rangnick for inspiration.

On the pair’s time in Germany, Klopp said: "They always played our opponent the week later, so he called me, the young manager at Mainz, and asked plenty of questions. I was happy that big Ralf Rangnick was calling me but he got all the information he needed.

"They got promoted, we didn't. So he owes me still something!

"In the football world in Germany, he is very, very well regarded, and rightly so."

Manchester United weren’t able to conclude a deal for Rangnick before this weekend’s match against Chelsea, however his appointment is likely to be confirmed very soon.

Rangnick and Klopp will face off at Anfield in March and the former will be hoping he can help the Red Devils redeem themselves after the embarrassing 5-0 defeat last month.