Manchester United could take four years before a return to former glory, says Paul Scholes

Manchester United is going through the worst start of a season in decades. The club has lost strength and competitive edge against its neighbour Manchester City and hasn't won the Premier League since 2013.

New coach Rubén Amorim, expected to arrive next week, is being hailed as a new hope for the clubs, especially after his stellar run with Sporting Lisbon, that includes a 4-1 hammering against Manchester City this week. However, the results won't be immediate.

According to Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, it could take years for Manchester United to regain its former glory and become a serious candidate for Premier League (thanks, Eurosport).

"The big concern for me is how can he get this team to challenge for the Champions League places when it should be the very, very least," Scholes told TNT Sports (thanks, Eurosport). "He is coming in at a situation where they are 14th in the league, 20-odd in the Europa League, so he is coming at a really bad time."

"And then, I do not know how much time he is going to have to make that next step again, to get it challenging for the league title. You are thinking three-and-a-half or four years to even get close to that."

Scholes believes that, under Amorim's management, Sportin Lisbon was seen "threatening, with a real energy, a hunger that probably has not been seen here at Old Trafford", so he will need to change the mentality of the team and make some Man Utd players, especially forward players, "to do the ugly side of the game".