Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has called for more investment in the club so they can challenge for trophies after the team finished third in the Premier League this season.
United sealed the third place, finishing the season with 75 points, after they came from behind to defeat Fulham 2-1 in the last game of the league season on Sunday and have already assured of Champions League qualification.
The Old Trafford club, which won the League Cup in February, has the chance to add to their silverware when they face Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
The enduring uncertainty regarding whether United’s current owners, the US-based Glazer family, will relinquish control despite initiating a sale process continues to hang over Old Trafford.
But Ten Hag, who said he did not receive the same backing as United’s top four rivals during the January transfer window, was adamant sustained financial support was vital to the club’s ongoing success.
“The club knows if you want to play top four, compete for trophies in this tough league, then you have to invest,” he said. “Otherwise you don’t have a chance because other clubs will do.
“We have seen it in the winter that all the clubs around us made huge investments. We didn’t and still we made it, so I’m really happy and proud of my team.”
“We are in the right direction, but we are not there where we have to be, there’s still a long way to go, there’s potential in this team and individual players,” Ten Hag told reporters on Sunday.
“We showed during the season we made progress, that’s a compliment to the players and the coaches, we worked really hard, but we have to make an investment.
“The club knows if you want to play top four, compete for trophies in this tough league then you have to invest otherwise you don’t have a chance because other clubs will do.”
Ten Hag has already become something of a hero to United fans after guiding the club to a League Cup final win over Newcastle in February, a success that ended the Red Devils’ six-year trophy drought.
And he insisted they could add yet more silverware when they return to Wembley next week for an FA Cup final where Ten Hag’s side will aim to scupper City’s hopes of emulating United’s celebrated 1998/99 treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles all in the one season.
United last won the league title in 2012-13 under Alex Ferguson.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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