Manchester United did not aim to win the title last season as the main priority was to get back into the UEFA Champions league (UCL), which they did but by winning the Europa league. The red devils would need to make a huge jump of five extra positions higher than last season’s sixth place finish if they were to win the Premier league (PL) title.

Jose Mourinho has won the PL on three different occasions with former club, now bitter rivals Chelsea. The Portuguese manager will play a huge part in United’s title aspirations as the competition gets more and more competitive, Mourinho has the experience and bottle to win major trophies, as shown by his first season at Old Trafford when he took his side to victory in the league cup and Europa league.

Big signings

So far, this window, Manchester United have been heavily linked to Antoine Griezmann, Alexis Sanchez and of course, world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo. Griezmann is unlikely to move now Atletico Madrid have to take on a transfer ban and Alexis also unlikely to move to a direct rival. Cristiano Ronaldo would be the dream, a player of this stature would take United from sixth place to Champions League contenders, that is how good the Real Madrid forward is.

Expectation

Manchester United are arguably the most under pressure club in the country to perform, only Real Madrid in world football comes close in terms of expectation. The reds will be fired up to deliver under that pressure and under Jose Mourinho, they are fully capable of producing the goods when it matters. Manchester United haven’t been able to challenge for a league title since Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013, now four years without a league title is far from good enough for United and they will be looking to rectify that.

They have the bottle

Despite not winning the league for a number of years, Manchester United still have their bottle and can hold their nerve when it matters. The FA Cup victory in 2015 proved that as they went one goal down and come back to beat Crystal Palace 2-1. Mourinho has won it all as a manager so he doesn’t need to prove anyone what he can do, his experience will play a huge role in United’s title challenge.

Guest article by Connor Humm