Man Utd chiefs 'set deadline' for Premier League title win as Omar Berrada message leaks

Manchester United chief Omar Berrada has reportedly told staff members that the club are striving towards a Premier League title win by 2028. The Red Devils have been unable to get their hands on the trophy since 2013, when legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson bowed out with one final triumph.

A sequence of bosses have tried and failed to find the same success at Old Trafford, and current head coach Erik ten Hag is once again finding it tough this season.

United are 11th in the table with two wins, a draw and two defeats from their opening five league games, and they kicked off their European campaign with an underwhelming draw at home to Twente on Wednesday.

The gap between United and last season's champions, Manchester City, was a staggering 31 points by close of play in May. City and Arsenal are once again expected to challenge for the Premier League this term, while Liverpool are also in good form under new manager Arne Slot.

Despite the scale of the ground United must make up, Berrada and the club's co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, have earmarked 2028 as the year by which they want to be back on top of the pile.

The Athletic claim that Berrada relayed that message to United staff members during a meeting last week, unveiling 'Project 150', as 2028 will mark the 150th anniversary of the club being formed as Newton Heath in 1878.

Sweeping changes have been made to all aspects of the club since Sir Jim completed his minority purchase in February this year. The Glazers remain majority owners but the unpopular Americans have handed the keys to the sporting operation over to INEOS.

Aside from Berrada moving from the blue side of Manchester to the red to become United's CEO, Dan Ashworth has been appointed sporting director and Jason Wilcox technical director. Sir Dave Brailsford, INEOS' head of sport, also plays a prominent role at Old Trafford.

It remains to be seen whether that group of senior figures maintain confidence that Ten Hag is the man to fulfil 'Project 150'. Berrada publicly backed the Dutchman earlier this season before United were hammered 3-0 at home to Liverpool.

"Erik has our full backing and we have worked very closely together in this transfer window," he said. "We're going to continue working very closely with him to help him get the best results out of the team. Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we're fully backing him."