Manchester United have undergone an inconsistent number of years since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club back in the summer of 2013 when he was replaced by David Moyes. As we know the club has subsequently been managed on an interim basis by Ryan Giggs prior to Louis van Gaal taking charge for two years and then last summer we saw the sensational appointment of Jose Mourinho.

The seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson left have been most unlike the Man United we had become accustomed to with the team playing in a different way and making some questionable transfer moves.

Perhaps the biggest change has been in the results on the field however as United had failed to qualify for the Champions League in two of the first three seasons after SAF left until this campaign.

In the one season the club has played in the world’s top club competition post SAF they did not make it out of the group stages under Louis van Gaal back in the 20015-16 season and then failed to qualify for it in van Gaal’s second and last season in charge.

United’s reputation in Europe had possibly started to wane until Jose Mourinho led them to the Europa League title and automatic Champions League qualification this campaign. Even so you might say that United are undergoing somewhat of a transitional phase – it is certainly not a rebuild but it is a sort of retooling as Jose Mourinho looks to put together a squad of players he trusts and knows he can work with using his specific tactics.

It seems clear that the Portuguese manager needs to add some goals to his squad and he is looking at more than just a striker to do that if recent reports are to be believed. Latest rumours suggest United may be looking to sign Inter Milan’s Croatian attacker Ivan Perisic who can play in a number of forward positions.

Of course next year the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba should hit the ground running as they will be familiar with the league and team not to mention the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard being that much further along in their development.

United will add a quality striker, you can be sure that Mourinho will be able to attract a high-class, goal-scoring striker and hopefully with a fit Ibrahimovic along with the aforementioned Rashford and Martial you would have to think they will have enough goals to seriously mix it with the big boys.

The squad is deep and has a feeling of youth while still maintaining experience with the likes of Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia. This year might be the time to have a bet on United in the Champions League using one of the excellent comparison sites around.

Things are looking good for United now as they are very hard to beat and they have got the major trophy winning feeling back again after lifting two pieces of silverware this campaign. When you add to this Jose Mourinho’s excellent record in the Champions League of having won it twice before and you would have to say that Manchester United are ready to return to the upper echelon’s of European football along with the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona.