Matthias Jaissle is Ralf Rangnick’s pick for Milan bench, Pochettino remains a possibility | OneFootball

As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Matthias Jaissle is Ralf Rangnick’s first pick for the head coach role at Milan.

Years after his last-minute collapsed move to San Siro, the Austrian is being courted by RedBird to oversee the total overhaul imminent at the club, a role not too dissimilar from the one he was offered at Man United before walking out of Old Trafford after his ill-fated tenure as interim coach.

True to form, Rangnick wants total authority when it comes to shaping the club’s sporting future, something he has been notably successful with when it comes to the Hoffenheim and Red Bull projects.

For Milan, Rangnick wants Matthias Jaissle, a young German coach currently plying his trade in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli. Jaissle is part of the Red Bull setup, having coached their Austrian teams Leifering and RB Salzburg.

While a relatively unknown capacity when it comes to the upper echelons of European football, the 38-year-old has been garnering quite the name for himself out in Saudi Pro League, having just delivered a second consecutive AFC Champions League Elite title to Al-Ahli along with the Saudi Super Cup last year.

It is also to be noted that Mauricio Pochettino remains in the picture. The Argentine coach, currently leading the US men’s national team, is poised to return to club football and was approached by Milan few days before their last-day debacle that saw them tumble down the Serie A table straight into the Europa League and triggered a mass exodus across their sporting hierarchy.

Additionally, Andoni Iraola, who is leaving Bournemouth after leading them to European football for the first time ever, and Oliver Glasner, who is departing Crystal Palace after winning three titles with them in 12 months on the back of Conference League triumph earlier in the week, are also distant candidates for the job.

Rangnick holds leverage, and Jaissle deserves a shot back in Europe

It is no surprise Rangnick likes to be in charge when it comes to projects at any club. After the eleventh-hour collapse of his Milan agreement from last time, as well as the spectacular implosion that has come about at San Siro since the conclusion of the season, it is easy to see who holds all the cards in this negotiation.

If he does arrive in Italy, if given time Rangnick could overhaul Milan’s sporting project and their fortunes, though that requires putting in him the kind of trust we usually don’t see being given to any one individual these days. Case in point, appointing a relative no-name like Matthias Jaissle to one of the hottest coaching seats in European football would be quite the leap of faith, though it would be a move very much up Rangnick’s alley.

That said, Jaissle has been quite successful in Saudi Arabia, and while it is easy to be snobbish about anything football-related that transpires there, coaches have evidently performed there only to come back and deliver in Europe as well. For coaches, this is usually a more well-trodden path.

Pochettino, meanwhile, is also one of those coaches who thrives on the back of a healthy relationship with the sporting directorship, which leaves him to focus on coaching while having a satisfactory amount of input in terms of squad-building. That said, if Rangnick arrives, expect Jaissle to be the one in the dugout come August.

Anshuman Joshi | GIFN