Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United won’t be able to challenge for the title until both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp leave the Premier League.
United have gone nearly a decade without a league title to their name, having last won the Premier League in 2013 in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season as manager. Subsequent attempts to return to their former glories have fallen well short.
United were backed by many to mount a title challenge this season, having finished second only to Manchester City last season. An encouraging summer transfer window, which saw the signings of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane as well as the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, was tipped to be the springboard needed.
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Those early hopes were quickly extinguished and United now look set to miss out on Champions League qualification after a dismal season. With seven games remaining, they sit six points off the top four, having dispensed of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager in November.
A huge summer lies ahead, with Erik ten Hag tipped to be the man to lead United into the 2022/23 campaign. The Ajax boss was interviewed for the role last month and is the club’s preferred candidate.
Fans will hope whoever the new manager is can inspire the turnaround needed in order to get United challenging for their first title in 10 years. However, Ferdinand has warned his old club that they can forget about the title until Guardiola and Klopp leave City and Liverpool respectively, with the two managers battling it out for the Premier League crown again this season.
“I get asked this question all the time, ‘when can Man United win again? Is a new manager going to get us to win?’” Ferdinand told his Vibe With FIVE podcast.
“We came second last year and I was thinking, like probably most Man United fans, ‘we are going to challenge now’ after a good transfer window.
“Firstly, United aren’t winning the league until Pep and Klopp go, and that’s only if they’ve got the foundations in place before that. The foundations aren’t even in place now.”
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