Inside Rangnick's Man Utd revolution: Club cars, saliva tests and 'soccerbots'

Ole is no longer at the wheel - and Manchester United's superstars might now be ordered to leave their luxury cars in the garage when Ralf Rangnick pulls up at Old Trafford.

United's new interim boss is a control freak, who believes it his job to "train the brains" of his players.

No one will be exempt.

Even five-time Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo's £20million car ­collection includes a limited edition Bugatti ­Centrodeci worth £8.5million.

But when Rangnick was building his reputation at RB Leipzig, he ordered his players to ditch their high-powered ­motors for less flashy models provided by the club.

And that was just one of the ways the German exerted control over his squad.

Rangnick hated being nicknamed 'The Professor' when he started out as player-manager of his tiny hometown club Viktoria Backnang in 1983 because he felt it was a way of belittling his ­unremarkable amateur career as a ­midfielder.

But the 63-year-old has always loved the appliance of science. In Backnang, he once watched so many tapes of ­Arrigo Sacchi's great AC Milan team that his video recorder blew up.

Almost four decades later, he ­convinced RB Leipzig to invest ­£1million installing a 'Soccerbot' at the club's training ground.

It's a state-of-the-art simulator that enables players to put themselves in match situations using a 360 degree projector screen.

Rangnick describes it as "PlayStation football - but with your feet".

When Rangnick arrived at Hoffenheim in 1999, he became the first coach in Germany to employ a video analyst.

Lars Kornetica took up the role and will join Rangnick in Manchester as his assistant after becoming his closest confidante.

Rangnick has already asked United's team of analysts to send him all the material they can lay their hands on, including fitness data. He has also made it clear that a new training ­schedule will be in place immediately after the game at Chelsea.

Players can expect to be ordered into Carrington training ground 90 minutes before every session to undergo blood and saliva tests.

Rangnick places huge emphasis on tailoring training to fit with the physical capabilities of his squad and employs athletic specialists to design ­programmes for maximum effect.

"I would have once thought it ­impossible that an athletics coach would tell me how many metres my team should run, and how fast, in ­training," said Rangnick.

"But that's what's happening. In the past, you'd have to trust your eyes and gut feeling as a manager to find the right dosage in training.

"It's a bit like picking up a rental car: they will tell you how much is in the tank and what your mileage is.

"The athletics coaches are in charge of planning the whole week of training in terms of the intensity on any given day. We take our cues from them."

Players are tested for gluten and ­lactose allergies and must adhere to individual diet plans.

Rangnick has even been known to bring in sleep specialists to advise his men on how to maximise their rest ­patterns.

New players arriving at ­Leipzig would question why a countdown clock could be heard incessantly ­ticking in small-sided training games.

Rangnick's theory is that his team must aim to regain possession inside eight seconds and that if they can take a shot at goal inside the next 10 seconds they have a better chance of scoring.

"The ticking can be ­irritating for players at first, but if they trust in the methodology behind it, then it very quickly becomes instinctive during the games," he explained.

Rangnick has built his reputation on developing young players. His first signing for ­Salzburg was a 20-year-old Sadio Mane from Metz for £3million.

Erling Haaland, Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Upamecano, David Alaba and Roberto Firmino are among those who have benefited from his technical and tactical expertise.

Rangnick believes players should be able to handle the mental and physical demands by the age of 17.

At 20, they should be seasoned ­professionals - but must maintain the desire to never stop learning.

"Football in the future will become more and more about players learning to train the brain," said Rangnick.

"Cognitive training will become more important. It takes players out of their comfort zone and makes them train under difficult conditions so they learn to make the right decisions in the tightest of spaces under extreme pressure."

He saw his future as a ­technical or sporting director when he stepped down as coach of Leipzig in 2019.

He did briefly consider returning to the touchline when AC Milan ­approached him about becoming their coach, but the offer was withdrawn when the German demanded full ­control.

When he started consultancy firm GmbH in the summer to advise clubs about their technical set-up, he was ­immediately asked to restructure the way Lokomotiv Moscow operates.

But Rangnick has always loved ­English football.

He said: "I can remember visits to Highbury or Upton Park - I still get goose bumps now. Working for a big club, with a big stadium and big ­exposure, is what I have wanted since the beginning of this year."

Rangnick does have something to prove. The only major trophy he has won is the German Cup and over 204 games as a coach in the Bundesliga, his win ratio is a mere 41 percent.

He averages 1.48 points per game - which, over the course of 38 Premier League games last season, would have seen his team finish in 12th place.