Ralf Rangnick has declined the prospect of taking over at Everton by committing his future instead to RB Leipzig.
If you were timing how long it would take for the desperation to take hold at Everton, you can probably now pause the stopwatch.
Because Sky Sports is reporting that The Toffees have re-opened talks with Sam Allardyce. And no, it is probably not a coincidence that they have turned to the out-of-work 63-year-old after failing to lure Sean Dyche, Marco Silva, Carlo Ancelotti, Thomas Tuchel, David Wagner and co to Goodison Park.
But with Everton on the verge of hiring a third new manager since sacking Roberto Martinez May 2016, their decision not to appoint a man they approached just last week has come into sharp focus.
According to Sky Sports, Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is a big fan of RB Leipzig’s Sporting Director Ralf Rangnick – though the 59-year-old put an immediate end to speculation by signing a new contract with last season’s Bundesliga runners-up until 2021.
“He’s 59, he’s no longer coaching, he’s about to get a new deal with more money and even more power,” German football expert Raphael Honigstein told Jim White on talkSPORT, broadcast at 10am, 23rd November.
“Five years ago he might’ve taken the job but I don’t understand how he can be a realistic option to coach. I can understand why Everton like Rangnick, he’s been one of the most important coaches in German football.
“But it’s not an attractive enough proposition for a guy who is at the second best club in Germany and can run the whole club.”
Sky Sports claim that Everton interviewed Rangnick back in 2013 before instead putting their faith in Roberto Martinez. But with the Spaniard declining rapidly despite a bright start to his Toffees career and predecessor Koeman lasting just over a year, you wonder now whether Moshiri is wishing Everton had hired Rangnick when they had the chance.
Rangnick, who has transformed Leipzig from a second tier side to a Champions League outfit in less than two years, is one of the brightest minds in football and has played a major part in luring some of the game’s most highly-rated young talents to the energy-drink funded German outfit.
He has not worked as a manager since 2011, however. And it appears he was never truly a realistic option for Everton – not this time at least.
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