Highlights:
- Former Manchester United defender believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will be happy with a second-place finish
- Rio Ferdinand has also urged the Red Devils to buy a Centre Back (CB)
The former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand, believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer-managed team will be happy with a second-place finish and urges them to buy a Centre Back (CB).
Rio Ferdinand believes that the Red Devils “got what they wanted” this season who managed to climb above Liverpool in the table but also urged his former side to “recruit well” this summer.
Manchester United, managed by the Norwegian former footballer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed second place in the English Premier League and were five points ahead of the Merseysiders – a vast improvement on the 2019-20 season, when the Red Devils finished 33 points behind their rivals.
Despite the team falling short in the UEFA Europa League final, Ferdinand feels there was definite progress made at Old Trafford and believes that the signing of a Centre Back should be a priority for the team.
When Goal.com asked for his assessment of Red Devils’ season, Ferdinand said, “I think in the league we’ve got what we wanted, which was an improvement.
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“I think Man United at the end of last season finished 30-odd points behind Liverpool. Liverpool are now behind us and they’ll have their excuses and reasons why but the cold facts are that we have gained that much ground on them that we’ve gone past them this season.
“That shows vast improvement and we’re second in the league.
“By no means are we the finished article but I think at the beginning of the season if you’d said you’d finish second in the league from where we were I think they’d have snapped your hand off,” he added.
The Red Devils, at the end of the season, finished 12 points behind the Pep Guardiola-led Manchester City and the former Man Utd defender Ferdinand believes that the signing of a defender needs to be Solskjaer’s primary focus in the summer.
He said, “They need to recruit well in this window in the right areas. I think they need a centre-back, a Right Winger (RW) and maybe even a centre-forward.”
According to Gaol, Tottenham Hotspurs’ forward wants to leave and with Manchester United having been long-term admirers of the England captain, they are listed as one of the favourites to land the 27-year-old.
“It would be nice wouldn’t it,” Ferdinand said when asked about Kane. “But my first position to buy would be centre-back.”
Their defeat against Villarreal means that it is now 4 seasons that Manchester United have not laid their hands on the silverware and the football club know if they are to carry on progressing they need to strengthen in the summer.
A Right Winger (RW), Centre Back (CB), defensive midfielder, Right Back (RB) and Centre Forward (CF) are all on the shopping list but Solskjaer expects that he will get “two or three” new additions before the start of the new season.