Ralf Rangnick finds the prospect of taking over at AC Milan appealing but has concerns that promises won’t be kept.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
A report from Wiener Zeitung recaps the relationship above all between Rangnick and the Austrian Football Federation (ÖFB), one that has been more up and down that you might imagine despite the very positive results on the field.
For example, they write that in March the head coach burst into an ÖFB meeting where the country’s sporting directors were discussing reforms. Rangnick ‘complained about not having been invited and then launched into a tirade’.
In hitting out at the Federation, Rangnick revealed his belief that Austria are ‘using too few young talents, mistakes were being made in training, and hardly any creative players were being developed’.
Milan’s offer
The Vienna-based source go on to state that Milan have reportedly ‘offered him exactly what he finds so appealing: considerable freedom to shape the club’s direction’. Rangnick could become the club’s powerful figure, pulling all the strings.
But, as with the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB), Rangnick wants assurances from the Rossoneri that he won’t be met with empty promises. Therefore, he wants clear commitments from the club and from the owner Gerry Cardinale.
The ÖFB long emphasised that there was no rush to get a renewal done, but Milan and other clubs sensed their hesitance and made their move. Now, the Austrian Federation have ‘fulfilled all of the national team coach’s wishes and are hoping for a commitment’.
Their president Pröll even declared recently: “The ball is now in Ralf Rangnick’s court. We have sent a clear signal that we want him and his coaching staff with the agreed-upon terms.”
Rangnick feels at home in Austria; he lives in Salzburg and has become a national hero. Yet, the national team coach has been pondering for some time whether he has reached his full potential or if there is still more possible.
According to the newspaper, he ‘also has doubts as to whether all the promises made in Italy will be kept’ and ‘whether he can trust the club, which is surrounded by many influential figures’. So, Rangnick will soon decide who he trusts more.