Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada remains confident the club can mark their 150th anniversary in 2028 by winning both the men’s and women’s league titles and believes there are similarities between head coach Ruben Amorim and Man City boss Pep Guardiola.
Berrada, who first told staff of his “Project 150” vision in September last year, knows that represents a significant challenge with United having just endured a worst top-flight season since relegation in 1973-74, while Chelsea continue to dominate the Women’s Super League.
However, he believes marking a major milestone in the club’s history since it was founded as Newton Heath in 1878 with double title success is realistic.
In an interview with the United We Stand fanzine to be published on Wednesday, Berrada said: “It’s establishing a series of targets within a timeframe so we can focus our efforts and energy on that goal.
“Can the team win the Premier League title by 2028? Of course.
“We’ve just finished 15th and it seems an impossible task. But why not aim for it? Why not do everything in our power?”
While United finished third in the WSL, 16 points behind champions Chelsea who also beat them in the FA Cup final, the men languished just three places above the Premier League relegation zone and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham.
‘We have two or three summer windows to build a PL winning team’
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Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada believes the club are well prepared for the summer transfer window.
Nevertheless, Berrada has doubled down on his timetable.
He said: “I firmly believe we can do it.
“We have two or three summer windows to build a team to start competing to win the Premier League.
“Nobody is saying we don’t want to win it until then. We’re setting ourselves a target with a specific time frame to go and aim for.”
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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explains what budgets the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle United will have to spend during the summer transfer window.
Berrada also reaffirmed Man Utd’s commitment to women’s football.
“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,” said Berrada.
“You’ve heard [minority owner] Jim [Ratcliffe] say ‘if you’re wearing the United shirt then you must win’. That’s exactly how I feel. A club of our scale has a responsibility to grow football in general and contribute to women’s football.”
Berrada on Amorim: ‘It was difficult in Pep’s first year’
Ruben Amorim, Europa League final
Amorim has had a difficult start to life at Old Trafford since arriving from Sporting in November.
And Berrada, who joined United after leaving his role as chief football operations officer at City Football Group, believes there are similarities between Amorim and Man City boss Guardiola, who had his own struggles in his first season at the Etihad.
“Very much so,” Berrada said when asked if saw similarities between Amorim and Guardiola.
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Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says he is already excited about what the club can achieve next season and that a lack of European football could prove to be an advantage in 2025/26.
“It was difficult in Pep’s first year.”
He added: “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 and given what he’d won, he had an enormous amount of credit in the bank.
“He was allowed that first year to be below-par by his standards. The club backed him that summer, the team started winning and created this winning cycle that lasted until this season.”
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Watch through a selection of Gary Neville and Roy Keane’s spikiest comments when discussing Manchester United’s disappointing season.
‘We are on the right path’
Berrada believes the difficulties Amorim has had to deal with will benefit the head coach and the club next season.
“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.”
