Man Utd can win Premier League title in three years says chief executive

But Berrada knows where the major external focus will be, in particular on coach Ruben Amorim, who had such a tortuous introduction to life at United following his arrival from Sporting in November.

Berrada joined United after working as chief football operations officer at City Football Group. And he can see similarities between Amorim and Pep Guardiola, who he got to know during his time at Manchester City and who, by his own standards, struggled in his debut campaign before eventually finishing fourth.

“It was difficult in Pep’s first year,” said Berrada.

“He didn’t win anything and there was suspicion about whether he could implement his football vision in the Premier League. People said he was arrogant and wouldn’t change his style of play. But he stuck to his principles.”

Asked if he saw similarities with Amorim, Berrada said: “Very much so.”

Berrada feels the difficulties Amorim has encountered since his arrival will benefit the club next season and says there is genuine reason for optimism.

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “There’ll be some difficult moments ahead.

“Nothing is going to get solved with one summer window, but we are on the right path.

“We’ve put the worst part of this transformation phase behind us and now we’re going to start building. I’m very confident we’ll get back to the top.”