Wayne Rooney has backed his former team Manchester United to win the Premier League this campaign and hailed Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani for bringing a ‘winning mentality’ to the club.
The Red devils returned to the top of the league table on Wednesday night after beating Fulham 2-1 after falling behind at the start of the game.
United endured a difficult start to the season but have been in an incredible form since they were knocked out of the Champions League in December.
They have lost just one game since their defeat to RB Leipzig on December 8, with their comeback victory at Fulham seeing them reclaim top spot.
Manchester City will go above their Manchester rivals if they win their outstanding game but Rooney believes his former club will end the campaign on top with the help of Fernandes and Cavani.
The Derby County head coach told Sky Sports: ‘In the last few years Manchester United haven’t been ready to challenge for the title. But now they’ve built a strong of players.
‘[Bruno] Fernandes coming in has helped massively. [Edinson] Cavani, with that winning mentality, has helped massively. Now the squad is challenging for a Premier League title.
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‘I said six weeks ago to the coaches in the office that I thought Manchester United would win the league and I still think that today.
‘Paul Pogba will have a massive part to play in that. They’ve brought players in with winning mentalities and now Paul can do what he does best and show his quality on the pitch.’
Cavani – who was signed on a free transfer following his exit from PSG – equalised in the first half when Fulham keeper Alphonse Areola spilled Fernandes’ cross into his path.
Pogba scored the winning goal with a superb second-half strike but Solskjaer was reluctant to talk about his team’s title chances after the win.
‘It is always going to be talked about that when you are halfway through and top of the league, but we are not thinking about this, we just have to go one game at a time,’ Solskjaer said. ‘It is such an unpredictable season.”
