Al Nassr coach came "very close" to becoming Man Utd manager

Rudi Garcia was among the Red Devils’ candidates before they hired Ralf Rangnick.

Al Nassr manager Rudi Garcia revealed Manchester United were considering him as their possible interim boss last winter.

Following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking in November 2021, Man Utd decided to avoid signing a permanent coach. A few weeks of negotiations with interim candidates resulted in Ralf Rangnick’s arrival on November 29.

Garcia reveals he held meetings with Man Utd’s hierarchy before they decided to hire Rangnick. The Frenchman wasn’t able to land the United job, but he might have a chance to coach Cristiano Ronaldo.

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His current club, Al Nassr, has submitted a mega offer for the Portuguese star after his departure from Man Utd.

Speaking about the possibility of Ronaldo’s signing, Garcia told AS: “I think that any coach would be happy to train a great star like Cristiano and already, in November 2021, I was very close to going to United.

“They chose Ralf Rangnick, but I met twice with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher. I came very close to coaching this club and was very motivated to go, who wouldn’t be motivated to coach United?

“I have always thought that the great players are the easiest to manage because they are very intelligent, I verified this with Francesco Totti at Roma.”