Bruno Fernandes has startlingly admitted he thinks Manchester United are not at a level good enough to win trophies this season on the eve of their Europa League tie with Granada.
United travel to Spain for the first leg of their quarter-final clash on Thursday with their opponents currently placed 9th in the La Liga table.
By contrast, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are behind only Man City domestically, and are considered favourites to win the Europa League after falling just short last season.
However, Fernandes believes United are still outsiders for the competition and doubts whether they will collect any silverware in the coming weeks.
“The improvement you have to see game by game not season by season. For us, it is improving as a team,” Fernandes told talkSPORT on Wednesday.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Of course we want to win trophies, we want to win everything we are included in. At the moment, we are not at that level this season.
“We have lost a lot of games. We have lost games we don’t expect to lose and have lost a lot of points at home and away our form is really, really different.
“I don’t remember if we have lost one game away. We are improving and this season is not finished and we have a lot to do until the end of the season.”
United have already been eliminated from the Champions League earlier than expected, while suffering gut-wrenching defeats to Man City in the Carabao Cup semi-final and Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-final.
(Image: Manchester United via Getty Imag)
A defeat to Granada would pile pressure on Solskjaer, who is still awaiting his first trophy as United boss, though suggested recently that winning cup competitions was merely an “ego thing” and not a true sign of progress.
Fernandes only this week disagreed with his manager on that front, and yet while he is unsure if United can win something this season, he insists he and his teammates will do everything in their power to add to the club’s trophy cabinet, either now or in the years to come.
“Until it is not mathematically possible, you have to believe so when I see it is not possible to catch City, I will forget the league,” he said.
“It’s never a success when you win just one trophy at this club. In the past we have won a lot of trophies.
“It is always successful when you win something because it means you have done something good but, at the same time, it doesn’t matter how many trophies you win, you always have to improve.
“It doesn’t matter if this season we won four trophies, we would still need to improve.
“If this season we win just the Europa League, we still need to improve. It doesn’t matter how many trophies we win, we have to improve every season.”
