Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has backed Manchester United to challenge for the Premier League title in the near future.
United are five points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea going into Wednesday’s meeting with Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
League leaders Liverpool hold a 37-point advantage over their fierce rivals after 30 rounds of games.
But Solskjaer thinks his team will be capable of competing at the top of the division sooner rather than later.
“[Manchester City and Liverpool the last couple of seasons have put the standard where it should be to win the league,” he said.
“We’ve developed over the season and had a spell of 11 unbeaten. [Then we] added Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford to that and are thinking: ‘Yeah, we’re not too far away.’
“I’m very happy with the squad. If there are any good deals to be made, players to make us better, of course we might have to spend some money. But the squad is great to work with and it’s moving in the right direction.
“We’re still not where we want to be, close enough to challenge for the Premier League trophy, but we take one step at a time. Hopefully we can challenge for the Europa League and FA Cup this season and the top four. Then, let’s see how much we can invest for next season.
“We’re getting closer and closer to the team we want to be and in the next eight [league] games we want to dominate and be tested.
“We’ve only conceded three goals in the last 12 games and are getting better and better as a team – well organised, hard to break down and we’ve always got quality to go and score goals.”
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