Manchester United are “a few years behind” on Liverpool and Manchester City, according to Red Devils legend Andy Cole.
The Red Devils have stuttered every season since Sir Alex Ferguson won his last club title in 2013 and retired on the back of his 13th Premier League crown.
United have failed to launch a sustained title bid since then, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad is currently 37 points behind Liverpool leaders, who are poised to claim their first league victory since 1990.
Cole is confident that United won’t have to wait that long to experience glory again, but the big club knows that the path back to the top is unlikely to be easy.
“Football is a cycle,” the former striker told the Counter Attack podcast.
“Losing Sir Alex Ferguson, he who is retiring, the next manager, the one who was going to intervene, was going to find it really, really difficult.
“I wouldn’t have liked to follow him as a manager and that’s it. It was a lot of trial and error, to change managers and all that.
“But on the other hand, if you look at Liverpool, it took Liverpool 30 years to win the Premier League – obviously not the Premier League, but the main league.
“I don’t think it will take 30 years for Manchester United to win the league again, but we are still a few years behind Liverpool and Manchester City.
“Once you close the gap, things will change. Naturally, things will change.
“But then the gap is going to change and some of the other teams that get involved try to win the Premier League.”
United is fighting for a place in the Champions League rather than the league title at the moment, but there were surges of positivity during Solskjaer’s reign.
The way the Norwegian brought in local talent was particularly impressive, with Mason Greenwood, 18, impressive as well as the English international Marcus Rashford.
“It was Marcus’ best season,” said Cole. “I think Marcus made his decision now, it’s the best position for him.
“The young boy Greenwood, I think he has a great future. He has an incredible future ahead of him.
“I’m always going to watch the boys in the front because that’s how I watch football. I watch football watching the boys in the front, their movements and how they try to get in position to score goals.
“I think these boys are definitely boys for the future. Even more Mason because Marcus has been around for a few years now. He just has to realize his potential. “
Cole is currently working as an advanced coach for Southend in addition to his role as ambassador to United, three years after having a life-saving kidney transplant.
“I work with it,” he said of his health. “There is good, there is bad, there is indifference.
“There are days when I can’t have it and there are other days when I turn around and say” yes, it’s half decent today “.
“But that’s what it is.” I do my best not to dwell on it too much because I know I have to live with it for the rest of my life.
“I think it’s the hardest thing sometimes, knowing that I was super fit and knowing that I am no longer super fit.
“And knowing that there are only certain things that I can do, and that there are only certain things that I can get away with and all that sort of thing.”
“It gets frustrating at times, but I’m still there. I’m still here.
“My daughter kept telling me that I was going to live to be 100 years old. I kept telling him” if dad is 50, he will be more than happy! “Let’s see how it goes.”