No matter what you think of Ralf Rangnick's relatively brief tenure as manager of Manchester United, you can't fault the German for his high levels of transparency and integrity.

He has used his time with the media, both before and after games, to provide an honest insight into what he has seen during his first few months at Old Trafford and what needs to be done to ensure his successor is successful when he steps into the managerial ring. The former RB Leipzig boss has now been in charge for 21 matches in all competitions. His candor has been both refreshing and eye-opening in its candor.

During a time when the Glazer family's deafening silence has continued unabated, Rangnick has taken the reins as the club's chief spokesperson and revealed several much-needed home truths about where the club has gone wrong and where it is still going wrong. His news conferences, in contrast to those of Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, have not been particularly entertaining, but they have been smart and filled with candor.

To give just one example, consider his recent admission about where United have gone wrong in the transfer market and why the club must invest in adding "physicality" to the team during the summer transfer window. In this season, it has been the source of United's demise on numerous occasions; in fact, Mourinho addressed the same issue more than three years ago.

Despite the fact that the club does not lack technical talent, Rangnick believes the team requires more physicality following Saturday's 1-1 draw with Leicester City. "When there was physical contact, we were far too often the second best option. This is something we need to improve on for the remainder of the season, and much more so for the upcoming season, to be successful."

Although he will not be in charge of the team after the end of May, Rangnick is already giving United advice on what they need to do this summer in order to get back on track. It may seem as though picking apart Manchester United's most obvious flaws does not require the expertise of a brain surgeon, but the fact that a senior member within the club's inner circle is willing to speak the truth, particularly in public, has been critical.

In addition to that, Rangnick has demonstrated a no-nonsense side to his management approach by refusing to be a friend to the players and instead demonstrating to them who is in charge. He has let players go when they have been underperforming and not contributing to the team's success, something Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was not willing to do, at least not until the conclusion of his time.

A number of players have been rested, including Harry Maguire, who should have been omitted following the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool in October for the following game against Tottenham Hotspur. Marcus Rashford has also been rested on a number of occasions. Whatever the sport, it takes a gutsy manager to sack the captain of the team.

However, even though it is unclear what Rangnick's specific responsibilities will be in his consulting role, and because United has remained mum on what the German's day-to-day responsibilities will be in his upstairs role, they must make retaining him a top priority this summer if they are to achieve their objectives. Austria have denied that they are in contact with the 63-year-old manager, despite reports in the national press that they are interested in appointing him as their next manager.

It doesn't matter if these reports are true or not. Manchester United's top people should pay very close attention to all of the good things that Rangnick has done since taking over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer four months ago. He has, without a doubt, exposed the Glazers' latest misdeeds and left them to rot in the open. Also, he has called out several of the players for not living up to their potential.

If Rangnick had been honest with himself when he presented his case to the interview panel back in November, he would have realized exactly what he was getting himself into. The reason for this is that he had previously chastised Manchester United for its poor transfer market performance in the years following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.

Rangnick said the following in a statement from 2019: "They have been underperforming ever since Sir Alex left. Since he left, they have failed to win the championship.

"If a club is unable to sign the appropriate players, they should at the very least avoid signing the incorrect ones. If you do that in one, two, or three consecutive transfer windows, you're in big danger.

"Achieving success in club building requires shifting the appropriate individuals away and bringing in players with greater than a 50 percent chance of becoming successful. Then you must have the best possible coaches to guide these athletes through their development."

When Rangnick first arrived at Old Trafford, he used the phrase "club building." Since then, he has used the phrase multiple times in various situations. It seems to me that Manchester United must do everything in their power to ensure that he remains in position until the first building bricks are put in place.