After multiple weeks of discussions and deliberation, Ralf Rangnick has rejected the opportunity to work on Milan’s rebuild as he commits to the Austrian national team.
The German will participate as the head coach of Austria in the World Cup, and now is heading towards continuing so even after the tournament. This was confirmed by A. Ramazzotti from La Gazzetta dello Sport, mentioning how Milan’s stalling and reluctance to accept his conditions ultimately led Rangnick to halt all further talks.
The conditions
Milan’s reluctance to accept
The main issue with Rangnick’s conditions was been reported to be his desire to have influence over the youth teams, which at the moment are at the hands of Jovan Kirovski. Kirovski and Ibrahimovic are very close, which led to the main source of reluctance. Relinquishing control of the youth teams to Rangnick would likely mean Kirovski leaving his position at the club, and thus Ibrahimovic having a lot less influence himself, which is something he wants to keep based on his actions.
Rangnick himself feared that “Milan promises may not be kept” according to Gerald Grossmann, which was likely what led him to stop negotiating further after a long wait.
The future for Milan
Losing the pull from a respected figure like Rangnick will likely change the type of targets Milan can go for, including coaches like Oliver Glasner and Mathias Jaissle. A new name that has popped up recently is the former Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon coach, Ruben Amorim. Additionally, the current USMNT coach, Mauricio Pochettino, remains as an option that would get paired with Ramón Planes as the sporting director.
