Sky Sports pundit Danny Higginbotham has said that Manchester United are far off from competing with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for the Premier League title unless they can improve on the fitness levels of the current squad. The club recently endured a disappointing campaign where they finished sixth on the league table and the board are expected to spend in the transfer market to some of the ongoing concerns.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Higginbotham indicated that the United players should plenty of adrenalin during the initial tenure under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but they could not sustain the same for the final months of the season. He added that the current crop of players lack the necessary fitness levels to cope with Ole’s style of play and the manager needs to sort out the concern during pre-season.

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has leaped into the defence of goalkeeper David de Gea amid his torrid run of form of late. The Spaniard has been culpable for making keeping mistakes which have cost the team over the past month and one of those came during the 1-1 Premier League draw against Chelsea, which has hampered their prospects of making the top four.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Lukaku described De Gea as a very positive person and suggested that he has been the club’s standout performer in the past few seasons. He added that the shot-stopper will return to his best form in due course, considering he will learn from the mistakes made in recent weeks.

Manchester United legend-turned-pundit Paul Scholes has said that the Red Devils are unlikely to challenge for the Premier League title next term. The Mancunian giants have improved immensely under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during the second half of the campaign but Scholes does not reckon that the club can compete for the English crown next season.

Speaking to BT Sport, Scholes said that United need another rebuild during the summer and he is unsure whether Ole can transform them into genuine title candidates, he said: “It feels like you almost need a full rebuild again. A lot of people expect United to challenge for league next year and I can’t see it. Liverpool showed signs last year they could challenge. United, there’s nothing telling me they’ll challenge next season.Give it £200million and give Ole a summer window, but Ole will have to improve this squad massively.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may have been going through a disappointing set of results since he was appointed on a permanent basis as the replacement for Jose Mourinho, but a lot of former United names have been holding the Norwegian in very high regard already. One of those individuals happen to be former Swedish winger Jesper Blomqvist, who claims that the joy of seeing Manchester United play in an attacking with is certainly back for good. Under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, there was a lot of criticism about Manchester United playing a defensive style that was considered as boring – after having been used to the days under Sir Alex Ferguson.

After being brought in as the caretaker manager following the exit of Mourinho,Solskjaer was able to work his magic instantly. A number of players like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku started displaying world-class form that was simply not to be seen under Mourinho. As a result, results started flowing and the United were getting a lot of goals. Even though the positive results have dried up since the appointment of Solskjaer on a permanent basis,Blomqvist says that it is at least a delight to feel that United are sticking with their DNA.Blomqvist played for United for three years at the turn of the century.

Arsenal legend Charlie Nicholas believes Alexis Sanchez should head through the Manchester United exit door in the summer after failing to adapt to the club’s style of play. The Chile international made the switch to the Red Devils from Arsenal during the 2018 winter transfer window whereby Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed in the opposite direction.

Since then, the attacker has barely impressed in the United shirt and the current season has witnessed him struggled for regular gametime. Speaking on Sky Sports, Nicholas said that Sanchez’s stint with United has been a shocker and the Chilean could be offloaded from the club’s ranks by the end of the campaign.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised the impact of Ander Herrera following the club’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup. The Spain international has been one of the many improved performers since Ole took charge of the club and he came up with a commanding performance where he also opened the scoring.

Speaking after United’s win at the Bridge, Ole praised the energy and tenacity of the Spaniard, who was tasked with the role of making interceptions in the second period where Nemanja Matic was on a yellow card, he said: "His energy and tenaciousness is vital for us. And that's why he plays, more or less, every single game. He has loads of energy, he can cover the right hand side, he runs forward. Tonight you can't just praise one, it's 11 players, plus the subs, but Ander has done fantastic."

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has revealed that Paul Pogba is clearly happy in the training ground when compared to earlier in the season. The France international was in-and-out of the starting lineup when Jose Mourinho was at the helm of things and there had been a point where he was linked with a potential departure after a bust-up with the manager.

However, things have since moved smoothly with the Portuguese being dismissed from the head coach position and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought the best out of his abilities. Speaking about the same, Lukaku told Canal Football club: "At training we are constantly saying Paul looks so happy and then he laughs. Everyone is more positive. Everyone is smiling more. And now we have to continue like this. And enjoy.

Spain international Ander Herrera has indicated that Manchester United are not thinking about the top four yet despite accumulating four straight Premier League wins on the bounce. The Red Devils appeared to be distancing themselves from the top four during the midway stage of December but the club’s decision to part ways with Jose Mourinho has paid dividends with them going on a four-match winning streak.

Speaking to Press Association, Herrera highlighted the improvement made in terms of the points to the top four while insisting that the team are not looking too far into the future, he said: “When I saw we were maybe 12 points behind, I decided not to think about it, go game-by-game and that’s what we did. That’s what I did at least, and things are going well, so I don’t want to change. I am not going to think about that.

Brazilian midfielder Andreas Pereira has revealed his ambition of earning regular gametime with Manchester United after featuring during their recent 2-1 Champions League defeat at Valencia. The 22-year-old has endured a tough season under Jose Mourinho where he has been left out of the matchday squad on numerous occasions but he managed to earn a rare opportunity against Los Che in midweek.

Speaking after the game, Pereira said that he is hungry for more chances from the starting XI despite not producing the best of performances at the Mestalla, he told MUTV: “I'm hungry for more. I'm trying to do my best, to keep being involved in and out, each and every week. It was good for me to be involved, to get some minutes. It was difficult at the start because of the match rhythm, but I did my best. It was, unluckily, not our night tonight [Wednesday]. [I was] a little bit rusty but, after a few minutes,
it went better and better. I think each game would get better and better.”

Premier League side Everton are reportedly prepared to make a fresh attempt to acquire the signature of Marcos Rojo from Manchester United in the New Year. The Argentina international had been heavily tipped to leave the Red Devils during the summer but a minor knee injury following the World Cup appeared to hamper his prospects of finding a new challenge.

Rojo has since returned to first-team training after recovering from yet another knee problem sustained but he seems far off from Jose Mourinho’s plans, having yet to feature for the Red Devils in any competition this term. Amidst this, Wolverhampton Wanderers have recently been fancied to make a winter approach for the former Sporting man but according to The Mirror, they could face potential competition from Marco Silva’s side.