Wayne Rooney eyes Premier League title challenge
By Lee Kilby
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney believes signing the right players this summer will help Manchester United challenge for the Premier League title next season.
United secured the final Champions League place last season after a stuttering start to the campaign as they finished 17 points behind champions Chelsea.
Louis van Gaal’s has already began the recruitment process with the signing of Dutch winger Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven on a four-year deal, and Rooney is confident that United can compete for the Premier League title with the right additions to the squad.
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“I honestly believe we will go far next year and won’t be far off challenging for the league,” he said on his website.
“If you look at the first 10 to 11 games we only had around 13 points, and if you look at where we finished I think it shows we could have been up there with a better start.
“We’ve dominated and outplayed most teams this season but haven’t taken our chances to win those games, it could have been a different story if we had.
“The most important thing is that as a squad, including the manager and myself, we believe we are close to challenging for the title and with a couple of signings in the summer we will have a good chance of doing that.
“It would be good to win as many cups as possible, a club like Manchester United should be winning trophies and hopefully next season we can put that right.”
Although United were still 17 points behind champions Chelsea, Rooney was happy with the progress they made in Van Gaal’s first year in charge.
Rooney added: “You have to realise that at the start of the season we had a new manager, new coaches and a lot of new players.
“It was always going to be a tough ask for us to win the Premier League. It was a bit disappointing not to win any silverware, especially the FA Cup after the defeat to Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
“We had a great chance of going on to win that. It would have been a disaster if we didn’t get that Champions League spot but the main thing is that the club is now back where it belongs.”
United have recently been linked with Sergio Ramos and Morgan Schneiderlin. United reportedly have begun negotiations over a £35m deal with Real Madrid regarding the transfer of Ramos.
Morgan Schneiderlin was the subject of intense transfer speculation last summer, but he has recently been linked worth a transfer to Manchester United. Southampton would request a fee of at least £25m for Schneiderlin.