Erik ten Hag issues Manchester United transfer demand after Champions League qualification
Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United need "better players" if they are to mount a credible title challenge next season.
United secured qualification for the Champions League with a 4-1 victory over Chelsea in their penultimate Premier League game of the campaign.
That win has lifted United to third and they could record only their fourth top-three finish in the last decade with victory over Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
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With standards raised in a season that is already an undeniable success, many United supporters will expect an overdue tilt at the championship in 2023-24.
Champions Manchester City are 17 points clear of United and Ten Hag, who is eager to add a striker, a midfielder and at least one defender to his squad, reiterated United have to reinforce in the summer transfer window.
"It's difficult to say in this moment, you have to see now how you come out of the transfer window but if I see now we need more," Ten Hag stressed. "But I don't have so much patience, that is one of my mistakes.
"We want to win every game but also, as I just tried to explain, it's tough here, there are really good teams, especially this season. Manchester City are playing really outstanding football. We have a way to go, we are in the right direction, we have work to do, so a work in progress."
Ten Hag agreed that a top-four finish represented the equivalent of a trophy, something Arsene Wenger first voiced during his Arsenal epoch.
Arsenal's title drought - now certain to stretch to 20 years - frustrated their supporters as they seemed sanguine with finishing in the Champions League qualifying places. Ten Hag clarified he will not settle for that.