Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada has confirmed their “target” date to win the Premier League amid his surprise at Ruben Amorim’s dire start.
Berrada and Man Utd‘s other board members have come under intense scrutiny since joining the Premier League giants as they reached an embarrassing new low in 2024/25, finishing 15th and failing to win a trophy.
The Red Devils made a mistake last summer as they retained Erik ten Hag, who was sacked a few months into the 24/25 season.
United identified Amorim as their top target after he was linked with Liverpool and Man City and he was appointed mid-season, even though he was initially against leaving Sporting Lisbon for the Premier League before the summer.
United’s performances under Amorim were worse than under Ten Hag as he struggled to implement his preferred 3-4-3 formation and Berrada has revealed what he “underestimated” about their start under the head coach.
“We knew that by bringing in Ruben mid-season that it was going to be even more difficult for the team to perform,” Berrada said on United We Stand.
“We saw it as an investment for the following seasons, because we were going to give Ruben time to get to know the squad, the club, the Premier League.
“We have a very clear roadmap. Had Ruben started on 1 July 2025, we wouldn’t have been able to have all that knowledge, right? And that’s what I feel about these seven or eight months that he’s had in the Premier League and what he’s suffered in the Premier League. And the team has suffered. It’s really going to help us in the future.
“I couldn’t have said that we were going to finish 15th. That was never the goal. I think we probably underestimated the time it would have required the team to adjust to the system. But we don’t regret the decision because I’m convinced that we’ll see this pay off next season.”
Despite this, Berrada has explained Man Utd’s bold “target” to win the Premier League “by 2028”.
“Project 150 is a very simple idea,” Berrada claimed.”We’re going to celebrate our 150th anniversary in June 2028, an important milestone in the history of the club.
“It’s a way of setting a time-bound period where we’re going to focus our efforts to achieve certain goals: winning the Premier League, having the women’s team win the first WSL, becoming one of the most commercially innovative clubs in the world, as we have been in the past, being cash positive.
“We have been a bit distracted with all the issues around the men’s first team but we are committed to making the women’s team very successful. You’ve heard Jim say, if you’re wearing the United shirt then you must win, and that’s exactly how I feel. A club of our scale has a responsibility to grow football in general and to contribute to women’s football.
“Overall, it’s establishing a series of targets within a timeframe so we can focus our efforts and energy on that goal. And if you ask me today, can the team win the Premier League title by 2028? Of course.
“We’ve just finished 15th and it seems like an impossible task. But why not aim for it? Why not do everything in our power? There have been other turnarounds and other big teams have had bad seasons and gone on to win the Premier League or La Liga.”
He added: “I firmly believe that we can do it (win the Premier League in 2028).
“We have two or three summer windows to build a team to start competing to win the Premier League and if we can achieve it before then, we’ll all be happy, and so nobody’s saying that we don’t want to win it until then.”