Ranking the top six contenders for the 2018/19 Premier League title

#3 Manchester United

Jose Mourinho Pre-Season Training and Press Conference

Manchester United have experienced difficulties since Sir Alex Ferguson departed and failed to finish in the top four in three of the five seasons since.

Jose Mourinho was brought in to reverse that trend as the 55-year-old is a serial winner with a proven track record of success everywhere he has coached. The United hierarchy hired the Portuguese knowing his pragmatic style was contrary to the club's aesthetic methods, but they felt results were more important than beauty as the club could not afford to fall further behind city rivals Man City.

The appointment has had the desired impact, though not on the scale and pace that fans would have expected. The Portuguese won two trophies in his first year in charge and the club recorded their highest ever league finish post Fergie with their second place spot at the end of last season. They were also losing finalists in the FA Cup.

There have been complaints though about the labored and dour football Manchester United play under The Special One and the lack of opportunities given to crowd favorites Anthony Martial and Marcos Rashford while the Red Devils also suffered an embarrassing round of 16 exit to Sevilla in the Champions League at Old Trafford.

United have done excellent business in the window so far and the signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk under the noses of Manchester City represents a real coup as the Brazilian would slot in naturally into a midfield three alongside Matic and Pogba and will give the much-maligned Frenchman the opportunity to freely express himself.

Diogo Dalot at right back is also an improvement on the effective but limited and aging Antonio Valencia and Manchester United are just a quality left back away from being a complete team ready to have a serious tilt at challenging for the Premier League title.