A summer of optimism.
The Premier League should be braced for Manchester United returning to the top. It was only a few months ago when Manchester United were knocked out of the Europa League by Liverpool with consummate ease. Fast forward to now, and the fortunes of the Old Trafford outfit have dramatically changed. José Mourinho has been totally supported by the club in the transfer market as Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been signed for a combined total of £56 million. The new signings bring real undeniable quality; Zlatan has had success at every club he has played for,Mkhitaryan is a player of real class and Bailly will surely mark a considerable improvment on some of the backline options the club deployed last season.
Indeed, the club is braced for the £100 million arrival of Paul Pogba as well as potentially an experienced centre back; these two subsequent additions are set to be the missing pieces in the puzzle which is designed to take the club back to the topof European Football for the first time since the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson.
What did Mourinho inherit?
José Mourinhowould not have taken the job on to take United back to the topif he wasn't very sure he could so so.It should be remembered that the club rather ruthlessly disposed of former manager Louis van Gaal shortly after an FA Cup triumph. A large part of this success was the host of promising young players at Old Trafford: Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all showed glimpses of world class talent at key times throughout the second half of last season.
Furthermore, there are players like David De Gea, Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw who provide the team with a spine of calibre and experience. Hence, this was a squad that needed tweaking; not overhauling.
Destined for the top
Assuming the aforementioned expected new additions work out, Manchester United's title credentials look very good.
I would be very surprised if theydid not win the league next season: they are red hot favourites in my eyes. Chelsea will provide a challenge but have maybe too much catching up to do from last season and, so far, I have been underwhelmed by the signings made by Pep Guardiola in a Manchester City squad that appears to require a lot of work if it has it heart set on coming out on top in the battle of Manchester.
Predicted Top 4:
1 Manchester United
2 Chelsea
3 Manchester City
4 Arsenal
