Rooney expects United to challenge for title

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is confident the club will be in contention for a 14th Premier League title in 2015-16.

After seeing Manchester City and Chelsea pick up the last two crowns, United are desperate to improve on last season’s fourth-placed finish.

Following the disastrous tenure of David Moyes in 2013-14, the arrival of Louis van Gaal last year signalled an upturn in fortunes at Old Trafford, with the Dutchman able to guide the club back to the UEFA Champions League.

But Rooney feels they can progress further next season, as they aim to pose a sterner challenge to the likes of City and Chelsea.

“I honestly believe we will go far next year and won’t be far off challenging for the league,” he said on his official website.

“If you look at the first 10 to 11 games we only had around 13 points, and if you look at where we finished I think it shows we could have been up there with a better start.

“We’ve dominated and outplayed most teams but haven’t taken our chances to win those games, it could have been a different story if we had.

“The most important thing is that as a squad, including the manager and myself, we believe we are close to challenging for the title and with a couple of signings in the summer we will have a good chance of doing that.

“It would be good to win as many cups as possible, a club like Manchester United should be winning trophies and hopefully next season we can put that right.”