Apollon Limassol coach Alexander Zorniger insists Ralf Rangnick will make the most of his chance at Manchester United.

In 2012, Zorniger was the man chosen to take charge at RB Leipzig by Rangnick, who sold him the project during an intense four-hour chat. Soon, 7am phone calls would become the norm.

"Ralf hates wasting time - he wants to make the next steps," Zorniger tells BBC Sport. "If someone is thinking right now in Manchester United 'well, it will take three or four years and then you will see the first influence', no chance. If people are not doing what he expects, then he will replace them.

"He is the most improving professional I ever met. Every day he is checking everything: 'Is that still state of the art? Do we need to improve something?'

"He always says football is a picture with 100 puzzle pieces and we should be able to provide all the 100 pieces to the players to become better players. That is what he is doing regarding nutrition, mental preparation, physical needs, physiotherapy, even checking hand-eye coordination, kinetics."

He also said, "Ralf has always had the possibility to change everything.

"In Hoffenheim and Leipzig, he implemented a new coaching team, new players, a new medical department, a new scouting team.

"He doesn't have these possibilities right now in Manchester United. These old, traditional clubs, they have an old, difficult network - and to open up and create new structures can be something really difficult.

"When he was appointed manager of Stuttgart in 1999, that was the first time he had to manage big players, and he was struggling because they didn't follow everything he thought might be a good idea. But he has more experience as a coach now and knows exactly where he can change things immediately and where it takes a little while."