MANCHESTER UNITED CEO Omar Berrada has doubled down on the club’s three-year aim of winning the Premier League by 2028.
The former Manchester City and Barcelona chief revealed he sees Pep Guardiola in Ruben Amorim and has promised a new dawn at Old Trafford for the fallen giants.
PAOmar Berrada claims the Old Trafford side will win back the Prem crown within the next three years[/caption]
GettyMan Utd hit a new low last season, finishing 15th in the Prem and losing the Europa League final to Spurs[/caption]
That would mean putting an end to United’s trend of getting worse-and-worse each year since Sir Alex Ferguson‘s retirement.
Four days after losing the Europa League final to Tottenham in Bilbao, the Red Devils posted their worst-ever Premier League season on record by finishing 15th in the table.
But despite finishing 25 points closer to the drop zone than the Prem summit, Berrada insisted part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘Project 150’ target of reclaiming the title by the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2028 are more than just an aspiration.
Berrada told United We Stand: “Can the team win the Premier League title by 2028? Of course. I firmly believe we can do it.
“We have two or three summer windows to build a team to start competing to win the Premier League.
“Nobody is saying we don’t want to win it until then. We’re setting ourselves a target with a specific time frame to go and aim for.
“It’s establishing a series of targets within a timeframe so we can focus our efforts and energy on that goal.
“We’ve just finished 15th and it seems an impossible task. But why not aim for it? Why not do everything in our power?”
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Berrada, who moved across Manchester at the start of 2024 after 13 years filling several senior executive roles at the Etihad club, cited Guardiola’s first season at City as evidence to back Amorim.
City finished third, 15 points adrift of champions Chelsea, in 2016-17, but there were lows that season, including a 4-0 thrashing at Everton and a last 16 exit to Monaco in the Champions League.
Asked if he saw similarities with Amorim, Berrada said: “Very much so. It was difficult in Pep’s first year.
“He didn’t win anything and there was suspicion about whether he could implement his football vision. People said he was arrogant and wouldn’t change his style of play.
“But Pep stuck to his principles and given what he’d won, he had an enormous amount of credit in the bank. He was allowed that first year to be below-par by his standards.
“The club backed him that summer, the team started winning and created this winning cycle that lasted until this season.”
“It won’t be easy. There’ll be some difficult moments ahead. Nothing is going to get solved with one summer window, but we are on the right path.”
GettyPep Guardiola joined City from Bayern Munich in 2016[/caption]
After finishing third in his first season in England, Guardiola led City to a historic season in 2017/18, losing just two games all season en route to 100 points.
But Guardiola walked into a much more stable situation at Man City, compared to Amorim’s mid-season horror show at United.
Amorim, who lost 14 of his 27 Prem games, replaced Erik ten Hag in November when Man Utd were 13th, but only five points off Champions League qualification spots.
Berrada did acknowledge that making an appointment midway through the season was always likely to make it “even more difficult for the team to perform”.
Can the team win the Premier League title by 2028? Of course.
Omar Berrada
He added: “We saw it as an investment for the following seasons, because we were going to give time to Ruben to get to know the squad, the club, the Premier League.
“We have a very clear roadmap of how we’re going to get there. Had Ruben started on July 1, 2025, we wouldn’t have been able to have all that knowledge, right?
“And that’s what I feel these seven or eight months that he’s had. He’s suffered, and the team has suffered. That’s why I feel that it’s really going to help us in the future.”
GettyRuben Amorim lost 14 of his 27 Prem games in his debut season[/caption]
Meanwhile, Berrada also wants United’s women’s team to win their first Super League title by 2028.
When he arrived at Barcelona in 2004, the club was on the floor, lagging behind both Man Utd and Real Madrid commercially and even failed to qualify for the Champions League.
But within two years, the Catalan club were European and Spanish champions in 2006 and soon became that famed “prime Barca” side.
And two years later in walked Guardiola to manage Lionel Messi and Co to the glittering heights of world football.
Berrada added: “I firmly believe that we can do it. We have two or three summer windows to build a team to start competing to win the Premier League.
“And if we can achieve it before then, we’ll all be happy — and so nobody’s saying that we don’t want to win it until then.”
“The worst bit is going to be behind us. We will have settled the management team and coaching team with the technical team around them.
“And on the football side, there’s a clear idea of what we want to do, what players we want to get, how we want to see the team playing, how we’re going to integrate academy players, how we’re going to go and invest in future talent.
“We’ve put the worst part of this transformation phase behind us and now we’re going to start building. I’m very confident we’ll get back to the top.”
Are Omar Berrada’s goals realistic?
Martin Lipton
YOU can’t fault Omar Berrada’s ambitions for Manchester United.
But you don’t have to be a City, Liverpool or Arsenal fan to question if he is living in an alternative footballing reality to the rest of the Premier League.
And one that many will feel is inevitably bound to crumble into a heap of dust.
Berrada’s vow that Ruben Amorim will land the Prem crown, ending more than a decade of hurt, by 2028 is the sort of hostage to fortune that could become the stuff of mocking banners at the Etihad and Anfield very soon.
United, remember, face a season without any European football for the first time since Louis van Gaal walked into the club after the short-lived David Moyes era.
They have a manager whose philosophy and tactical approach are designed for a squad he simply does not have.
And a team that finished 15th last season, having lost 18 Prem games and more than HALF of those played after the Portuguese took charge of the reins.
When Sir Alex Ferguson hung up his hairdryer in 2013, the bookies would have offered long odds on City, Chelsea, Leicester and Liverpool – and potentially more – all winning the title before United got their hands on it again.
But ever since then, all the vows from Old Trafford, the promises of glory, have proven to be no more than hot air.
The cloud of despondency that hung over the whole club as United trooped back from that night of misery against Spurs in Bilbao and then were forced out for a cash-raising Far East tour has not been dispersed by spending £62.5m on Matheus Cunha.
Ipswich striker Liam Delap choosing Chelsea over United was further evidence of the club’s decline and fall.
Were they to miss out on Viktor Gyokeres and Brian Mbeumo too, the implications and reverberations would be hard to ignore.
Berrada’s “firm belief” that Amorim can turn back time and re-work the footballing axis is more than risky, too.
United – and Berrada could not have gone so far without the approval of Sir Jim Ratclife and the rest of the Old Trafford hierarchy – have now publicly bet the house on Amorim.
He might have three spins of the wheel rather than one but the pressure has now been cranked up another gear.
Berrada pointed to Spain, where Barcelona went from sixth, 22 points behind Real Madrid, in 2002-03 to be champions two years later and masters of Europe the following season, to underline his contention that things can change quickly.
They can, yes. No question.
But that was in – financially and frequently on the pitch as well – a two club league.
The Prem is far more competitive, with Newcastle, Aston Villa and even Nottingham Forest among the sides who firmly believe they can more than match the Big Six where it matters.
Any doubts about that were surely ended over the past 10 months. It is unlikely to get any easier.
In tying himself inextricably with Amorim’s success or failure, Berrada has put his own credibility and future on the line.
If the Portuguese proves a flop, there will be two heads on the spike, not just one.
Berrada’s public appearances have not always been exactly a roaring success, either – even if one of the biggest ones since he moved to United ended up helping cost City millions of pounds.
The Frenchman gave evidence, on City’s behalf and with respect to his former role as chief operating officer for the Abu Dhabi regime, at former left-back Benjamin Mendy’s employment tribunal claim for his withheld wages to be paid following his sacking by the club.
In the initial stages, Employment Judge Dunlop appeared to be underwhelmed by submissions on Mendy’s behalf.
But Berrada’s witness box insistence that “I didn’t come here to answer those questions” from Mendy’s KC brought a withering interjection: “Mr Berrada, you are here to answer every question put to you”.
From what seemed a certain victory, given the reasons why Mendy’s wages were blocked, City ended up being ordered to pay £8.5m. Not exactly a persuasive witness, then.
Berrada’s interview with United We Stand was also about addressing the off-field issues that have caused such anger and concern – both from staff and supporters.
Some 450 jobs have been shed in a cost-cutting exercise that saw staff launches binned, while many long-standing season ticket holders are up in arms about being moved from their preferred seats in favour of big-money spectators.
Conceding to “short term pain” while maintaining that “the worst is behind us” in order to “build something that’s sustainable for the long, long term” might satisfy the bean counter.
But not those who actually fill the seats.
Amorim may welcome the backing. It is a signal that his decisions over Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and others have and will be endorsed by the powers that be.
The squad should read the message as designed for them as well – that, this time, if it comes to player versus manager, it will be the bloke in the dug-out who is defended.
Yet you cannot build an empire on memories or vibes. Only on solid foundations.
And United’s castle looks dilapidated and decaying. Temporary fixes are not enough.
Berrada’s call to arms was about stiffening the sinews of tattered troops, steeling them for a mighty series of battles.
The truth is that they look outgunned and outmanned on all sides. The history of great generals brought down by impossible odds is a long one
Amorim might have to be a very lucky general to live up to his latest set of expectations.
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