Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has made a bold prediction about his old club's upcoming season and the future of Erik ten Hag.
The 2023/24 Premier League season saw Manchester United finish in eighth, their lowest since the competition began in 1992.
But after a busy transfer window for the Red Devils, which has seen the signing of players like Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, fans are more optimistic about the upcoming season.
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However, former United frontman Owen remains unconvinced, and has made some bold claims about how the Manchester club will perform in the 2024/25 season.
Speaking to OLBG, Owen said: "Man United won’t get top four - Ten Hag isn’t the right man for the job.
“Manchester United were one of the first teams that I discounted for the top four to be honest. I’m surprised they didn't change their manager when they were changing an awful lot in the summer."
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In his final prediction, the Ballon d'Or winner predicted United to finish in seventh, with Newcastle in fifth, Tottenham in sixth and Chelsea below United in eighth.
The 44-year-old pundit also revealed that he has been unimpressed with United's business in the summer transfer window, despite the club signing four players this window.
“They keep throwing money at players, but they've been doing that for 15 years now and it's never worked. Why would it work now?
“There’s not been enough of a change out there on the pitch for me to believe there is going to be much of a change to their fortunes this season.
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“As I've said before, I don't think Erik ten Hag is the right man for the job personally. They've had a couple of years now under Ten Hag, if we were going to see improvement it would’ve been after six or seven months - not two years. I don't see any change.
"If it’s 5 games, 50 games or 500 games, Erik ten Hag will go at some point."
Should Ten Hag lose his role as Manchester United manager, then Owen has picked new assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy to succeed him.
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"If Van Nistelrooy doesn’t leave before Ten Hag, you would think that he would get a handful of games as manager," Owen added.
"It doesn't take a genius to work out that having been a manager and now being the assistant manager at his former club, Van Nistelrooy could get to manage Manchester United at some point."
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Premier League, Michael Owen
Ben McCrum