Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has dropped his early verdict for when Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is likely to challenge for the Premier League title.
Paul Scholes was part of the last Manchester United team to lift the Premier League trophy under former manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the 2012-13 campaign.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired from management in 2013, engineered all 13 of United’s Premier League title wins during his legendary reign at Old Trafford.
However, United have struggled in the aftermath of Ferguson’s retirement and have been unable to reassert their dominance over English football since 2013.
Former United managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho have achieved the club’s best league finish – second place on both occasions – since the Ferguson era.
Scholes on Premier League title prediction
Ruben Amorim will officially become Manchester United manager on 11th November and will succeed Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford hot seat.
Erik ten Hag’s reign at the Premier League club came to an end last week after the former Ajax boss was sacked following United’s poor start to the season.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was an assistant manager to Erik ten Hag, was installed as interim manager at United amid the club’s discussions with Sporting CP’s Amorim.
United endured their worst finish in the Premier League era under Ten Hag last season, with the Red Devils managing only an eighth-place finish.
The Red Devils are 13th in the league table in the current campaign and United are six points adrift from the Premier League top four.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Paul Scholes claimed that it could take up to four years for United to be part of the Premier League title picture under Amorim.
“The big concern for me is how can he get this team to challenge for the Champions League places when it should be the very, very least,” he said.
“And then, I do not know how much time he is going to have to make that next step again, to get it challenging for the league title. You are thinking three-and-a-half or four years to even get close to that.
“He is coming in at a situation where they are 14th in the league, 20-odd in the Europa League, so he is coming at a really bad time.”
Scholes on Man Utd and Champions League
United paid the £9.25m release clause in Amorim’s contract and the 39-year-old Portuguese manager has agreed a contract until June 2027 with the club.
The Red Devils have the option to trigger a one-year extension in Amorim’s contract, with the Sporting CP boss facing an uphill task ahead of him at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s interim managerial spell will end at the club on Sunday after the Premier League clash against Leicester City at Old Trafford.
Scholes insisted that United have challenged for a place in the Champions League under previous managers, even if they fell short of the Premier League title.
“Some of the bigger managers you expected to do well – the Van Gaals, the Mourinhos – did not quite work for them,” he continued.
“But their level was still higher, they were still going for Champions League places, not quite the league.
“And I think it is going to be quite easy for him to get this team five or six up.
“They finished eighth last year, it was a bad year so he has not got that much work to do to beat that, but I think he is more than capable of doing that.”
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