Nemanja Matic insists Manchester United must fight Liverpool and Manchester City for the title

Nemanja Matic has called on his Manchester United side to fight Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title next season.

United ended the season with a flourish to secure a Champions League spot but still finished 33 points behind champions Liverpool and 15 points adrift of neighbours Manchester City.

And Matic – who has yet to win a trophy since joining the club from Chelsea three years ago – is adamant a similar points gap to the top two will be a failure on the part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Nemanja Matic has insisted Man United must challenge Liverpool and Man City for the title

United qualified for the Champions League but finished 33 points behind champions Liverpool

‘Me, personally, I would like to win the Premier League with Manchester United,’ he told the club’s official magazine Inside United.

‘I think that our club always needs to fight for the title.

‘We always need to try to do the best for this club, which we are doing at the moment, and I think we cannot allow any club to win the league seven or 10 games before the season finishes. So we have to fight until the end.’

The 32-year-old Serbia international is one of the more experienced campaigners at the Old Trafford club, who have seen the rise of Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and most recently Mason Greenwood into the first-team picture.

The 32-year-old has jetted off on holiday with wife Aleksandra before the Europa League

City and Liverpool have dominated English football over the past couple of campaigns

But Matic has insisted that the youth in the squad cannot be used as a pretext for an underwhelming campaign next term.

‘Of course, we have a young team, but this cannot be an excuse,’ he continued.

‘I think these young players already have a few seasons behind them playing. So, from the next season, we have to fight for the title. I don’t know if we’re going to win [it] but I’m sure that we can fight until the end.

‘That’s my personal target and I think the rest of my team-mates think the same.’