Rangnick confirms impending arrival of two new staff members

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Manchester United have been linked with adding Chris Armas to Ralf Rangnick’s coaching team in recent days.

The Athletic have also reported that sports psychologist Sascha Lense would join Rangnick at Old Trafford.

Rangnick faced the press ahead of United’s final Champions League group stage game at home to Young Boys and was asked about the additions he plans to make to his backroom staff.

He confirmed the impending arrival of both men, explaining a little bit about his relationship with them both as he gets people he trusts around him at United.

“So far, I am very happy to work with the staff I have met last week,” he said. “We have decided to bring in a sport psychologist in Sascha Lense.

“He is from Germany, a former second division player. I used to work with him for three years at Leipzig. One year, we won promotion from the second to the first division and in the following two years, Ralph Hasenhuttl was the manager.

“He will be introduced to the team as soon as he has his visa and work permit and I hope that we will have him on board on Wednesday or at the latest on Thursday. I will also have one other assistant coach in Chris Armas.

“He used to be the assistant coach at the New York Red Bulls. I met him five years ago and since then we met quite regularly in my role as Head of Global for Red Bull. The last three-and-a-half years he was also head coach at Red Bulls and Toronto in the MLS. He will hopefully join our team in the next two days.”

We have written a piece here containing more information about Armas.

Lense’s appointment is a shift from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign, when nobody in the backroom team took up a similar role.

Rangnick may only be in the dugout for six months and happy to largely work with the staff he inherited, but these two appointments are significant in terms of him shaping the club in the way he wants.

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