Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Manchester United should aim for a top six to eight finish in the Premier League next season. The Red Devils will be keen to put the disappointing 2024/25 season behind them, having ended up in a dismal 15th place in the league and failing to secure any silverware domestically or in Europe.
Despite the underwhelming campaign, Ruben Amorim, who took over the reins in November following Erik ten Hag's dismissal, seems to have been granted some leeway by the board. The Portuguese manager was left to work with a disjointed squad he inherited upon his arrival at Old Trafford, and with Ten Hag's previous summer splurge on players like Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt, he had limited funds in January to kickstart his own rebuilding process. Concerns about breaching PSR regulations if they continued their extravagant spending also loomed large.
Consequently, Amorim could only afford to bring in Patrick Dorgu from Lecce for £25.1million, along with Arsenal's young talent Ayden Heaven in a deal believed to be around £1m. However, it seems Amorim will receive the board's backing this summer to recruit players suited to his system, with United already shelling out £62.5m on Matheus Cunha from Wolves in the early transfer window.
While there's still a significant amount of work to be done in terms of recruiting new talent, club legend Ferdinand has shared his thoughts on where United should aim to finish next season if Amorim secures the players he desires. "I think if you finish 15th this year, United have got to be looking to finish in at least the top eight, top six," he told the Mirror.
"I don't think you should be looking outside of that. And that's from someone who only thought about winning the league at United. So it's a big come-down in that sense."
Ferdinand also agreed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Project 150 plans seem somewhat ambitious at present. The INEOS chair and Red Devils minority shareholder had initially aimed for his club to win the league by 2028, coinciding with their 150th anniversary, but the harsh reality is that Amorim may require more time to weave his magic and gradually restore United to the Premier League titans they were under Sir Alex Ferguson.
An insider told the Mirror back in March that while Amorim "felt he could get more from the current squad when he came in," that: "There's no getting away from the fact that overall it's been a really tough watch - and that it's going to take a lot of time and patience to get the team to where they should be. You've got to be brave or foolish to think winning the league by 2028 is doable from where United currently are."
The escalating prowess of United's rivals and the burgeoning talent pool may compel Ratcliffe to reconsider his ambitious Project 150 strategy as the club seeks a smoother path ahead. It comes as Ferdinand has unveiled his Career Transfer Hub in collaboration with Talking Futures, aiming to bridge the gap between teenagers and their parents regarding future career planning.
Discussing the campaign, Ferdinand said: "I think it's about empowering kind of families to talk more about education, especially parents. I think we're comfortable talking about a lot of things, i.e. football, a lot of the time in and around the front room or across the table with your kids, but getting that kind of common ground when you're talking about education, sometimes it's quite difficult, even I've found it difficult at times.
"So something like this is definitely a good way in and a good avenue in to kind of having those conversations about what's next in your life, education wise, where do you see yourself going? What paths are you looking at?
"And this is a great, I think, avenue for parents to really kind of touch the paper and go, right, listen, here we go, and start walking their kids down the right path, giving them a little bit of autonomy over it, but also guide them a little bit at the same time. So I wish I'd had this when I was younger - although I had football, which I was quite fortunate with."
Rio Ferdinand has partnered with Talking Futures to launch the Career Transfer Hub – giving parents access to information on their child’s education options just like football agents have transfer insiders, negotiation teams and career scouts. You can find out more here.