Former Blackburn and Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has raised doubts over whether Man Utd can qualify for the Champions League.
The Red Devils currently sit 6th in the table after 16 games played, but Souness says he doesn’t think the current squad is particularly strong:
“[Manchester United] are still average. Is it Ruben Amorim’s fault? Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo are good players, but the rest of them are an average lot, and I don’t see them getting to the top four, which they have to do.”
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“Manchester United, biggest club in our football, maybe the second, third biggest club in world football. But right now, they’re going through a difficult period.”
“But they need to get back into the Champions League for the obvious reasons – to generate more finance, to buy even better players, and to be attractive to the genuine big players that are out there that are up for grabs.”
What are the chances of Man Utd qualifying for the Champions League?
Opta agree with Souness. They have given Ruben Amorim’s men a 9.14% chance of securing a place in next season’s top European competition.
Arsenal (99.32%), Manchester City (95.82%), Aston Villa (77.87%), Liverpool (41.19%), Chelsea (37.58%) and even Crystal Palace (17.38%) have been given better odds of making the top 4/5.
Is Souness correct about the quality of the first-team squad?
There are definitely positions that United need to upgrade. A midfielder is an absolutely must, while there is an argument for bringing in a wingback or potentially two.
You could also make a case for more centre-halves if Amorim persists with three at the back. The backline of Leny Yoro, Ayden Heaven and Luke Shaw that started against Bournemouth isn’t going to keep many clean sheets in the Premier League.
Even so, in addition to Cunha and Mbeumo, you would say that Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and even Mason Mount all possess sufficient quality to help in a top-four push.
It should be remembered too that this team is still in the middle of a rebuild, so being just a point or two off the top four at the halfway stage of the season isn’t a bad place to be.
Read more about the Manchester United First Team Squad for 2025/26 here