Wayne Rooney has said that he is confident Manchester United can challenge Chelsea for the Premier League title next season, with the addition of "a couple of signings" this summer.
The Red Devils finished fourth in Louis van Gaal's first campaign at the helm, some 12 points off the Blues who usurped Manchester City to win the top-flight crown for the first time since 2010.
United skipper Rooney saw enough from his side last time out to offer encouragement ahead of the 2015-16 campaign, and he admits that the club simply must be fighting for major honours.
"I honestly believe we will go far next year and won't be far off challenging for the league," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Star. "If you look at the first 10 to 11 games we only had around 13 points, and if you look at where we finished I think it shows we could have been up there with a better start.
"We've dominated and outplayed most teams this season but haven't taken our chances to win those games, it could have been a different story if we had. The most important thing is that as a squad, including the manager and myself, we believe we are close to challenging for the title and with a couple of signings in the summer we will have a good chance of doing that.
"It would be good to win as many cups as possible, a club like Manchester United should be winning trophies and hopefully next season we can put that right."
Van Gaal has so far made one addition to his squad, bringing Memphis Depay to Old Trafford in a £25m deal from PSV Eindhoven earlier this month.
Daniel Lewis
