Ruben Amorim disagrees with Sir Alex Ferguson's Man Utd title prediction

Ruben Amorim: ‘I truly believe we can fight for the title in the next years’ (Photo: Getty)

Ruben Amorim insists Manchester United will be fighting for the Premier League title much sooner than Sir Alex Ferguson has predicted.

Ferguson masterminded United’s last title triumph in 2012/13 and duly retired but few then could have predicted that that would be the last time the club would lift the trophy.

After over a decade of decline, Amorim is the latest manager tasked with bringing the glory days back to Old Trafford and there have been signs of recovery this season.

His side have lost just one of their last 10 games and could be in the top-four at Christmas if they defeat high-flying Aston Villa on Sunday.

But it is widely-acknowledged that there is plenty of work to do on-and-off the pitch before they can compete with the likes of Arsenal , Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.

And this week, Ferguson boldly claimed that it could be another ’10 or 11 years’ before the Red Devils can call themselves champions of England again.

Amorim respectfully disagrees with his predecessor’s comments and is certain United will be title contenders before the decade is out.

Sir Alex Ferguson thinks it will be another decade before United win the Premier League again (Photo: Getty)

‘He [Ferguson] understands football more than me, especially English football,’ the head coach said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

‘I think we will not take that long to win a league and I don’t know which manager is going to be here but I truly believe we can fight for the title in the next years and I think it is not going to take so many years but you never know.

‘In relation of leadership, it’s the moment of the club and you have to fight all the fights here inside, and I’m here to do that. Until I’m [not] here, I will fight, I will not back down and I have to solve everything.

Ferguson mastermind United’s last title win in 2012/13 (Photo: Getty)

‘We are improving as a team, we are improving as a group and we are going to improve in these small things. That will make a difference even to suffer goals.

‘If we are a different group, we are going to suffer less goals but we are scoring more, so let’s think about the positives and let’s think about the Villa game.’

The trip to Villa Park will not be easy, with the Villans third in the table, only three points behind league leaders Arsenal and on a nine-game winning streak.

‘I think they have a manager with a lot of experience. You can see when you watch Villa play, you can sense it’s a very mature team.’ Amorim added.

‘Understands, [Unai Emery] doesn’t panic when he’s losing, he doesn’t feel overwhelmed when he’s winning, he can control the emotion all the time. I think they are a very strong team, if they are going to fight until the end [for the title]? I don’t know. But they are capable of that.’