WAYNE ROONEY believes Manchester United need “two or three years” to be able to compete with rivals Liverpool and City.
United have not won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
And as their arch-rivals continue to dominate domestic football in England, the former Red Devils captain knows his old side have plenty more to get sorted.
Since Fergie left, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have so far tried and failed to challenge for the Premier League.
The silverware has dried up. One FA Cup, the League Cup and a Europa League in the last six-and-a-half years has left fans frustrated at the club, especially the board.
And Rooney knows the United faithful need to remain patient and stick by their team.
Ahead of the FA Cup clash between his new side Derby and United, he told The Telegraph: “It is going to take another two or three years, I believe. The important thing is for them to try and get into the Champions League this year.
“It is really tight at the minute. I think that will help them a lot if they can do that, but it is going to take time.
“The United fans need to be a bit patient with what’s going on and let these players try and prove themselves.
“They need to bring some players in, they need to also get rid of some players, and within two or three years they have to be challenging again.
“It’s not going to be a quick fix. They’ve tried that with [Louis] Van Gaal, and [Jose] Mourinho.
“If you look at Liverpool and what they’ve done, they have built that team, and Man City, [Pep] Guardiola has gradually brought more players in for his way of playing.
“So United have to be patient and try to build a team that will be able to challenge those two.”
Rooney won 12 major honours during his 13 years at Old Trafford, including five Premier League titles.
His relationship with the fans and club at times fluctuated, with Rooney feeling as though he was singled out for unfair criticism from Ferguson.
But now the England and United record goalscorer – who is a player-coach at Derby – realises it was all to inspire him and his team-mates to perform better.
Rooney added: “I always remember as a kid, every half-time, arguing with him, constantly.
“I remember thinking, ‘Why does he keep having a go at me? There’s players far worse than I’ve been!’ Then the older you get, the more you realise why he’s doing it. He’s obviously aiming at other players who can’t take it.
“He would have a go at me for dribbling. I very rarely dribble… well, I dribbled a bit more then… but [with] Nani, it would just maybe trigger something in [his] head, thinking, ‘Oh maybe I shouldn’t dribble as much.’”
