Rio Ferdinand admits Man Utd aren’t Prem contenders – but need trophy again

Rio Ferdinand has agreed with Erik ten Hag in thinking Manchester United are not contenders for the Premier League.

The Red Devils finished third last season and have strengthened again this summer with the signings of Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund. Though rivals Manchester City remain favourites to win the Premier League for a fourth time in a row.

And Ten Hag recently admitted United have no right to consider themselves title candidates, saying: “I think no-one in the Premier League can do that. Maybe City, they can do that, because for the last six years they won the title five times.

“So they can talk about that, but any other club must first compete for the first four positions and make sure you are getting in the first four."

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And it's a view TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand agrees with, as he said: "I'm not surprised because I think you've got to look at how far off United were.

"They were way off. So far off in terms of players, depth, quality compared to Manchester City who I will judge them against.

"He [Ten Hag] has had three transfer windows, I think we're closer. You can see the improvements and the trajectory is upwards but the distance between them and City has been a big gap.

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"Are they getting closer and are things improving? Yes. Are we close enough to challenge and win the title? I don't think so."

United won the Carabao Cup in Ten Hag's first season at the helm at Old Trafford. And Ferdinand believes they need to build on that success, as well as the top four finish.

"Well it would have to be a trophy as well," the ex-Red Devils defender added. "You need a trophy now.

"You've got to build every season and move on. I hate to compare but when I was there, it was to try and win the league and win trophies as well.

"These guys are going to be the same. There's no doubt in my mind that those players will be saying let's try and win the league.

"Whether they do that, most of us think that's unlikely so get a trophy. We need to see an improvement from last season, consistency, style of play and getting closer to the winners."

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