Manchester United: Wayne Rooney wants to start winning trophies this season

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney believes that the Red Devils need to start winning trophies this season, having struggled to compete for top honours after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. United finished fourth last season under Louis van Gaal but they look unlikely to be in the top four this time around, given their current form and distance between themselves and fourth placed Manchester City.

The Red Devils have dropped out of the group stages of the Champions League but will start their campaign in the Europa League this mid-week against Danish side FC Midtjylland. They are also competing in the FA Cup, with a fifth round shootout against Shrewsbury Town in the agenda next weekend. United lost to Arsenal in the quarter-final stage in 2015 when Danny Welbeck scored the winner as the Gunners went on to eventually lift the trophy for the second year in succession.

Rooney insists that the Europa is not their priority but they would be better served trying to win the tournament as it will give them a direct route to the Champions League next season and also help reconstruct their season. The Red Devils have not won anything in Europe since 2008 and the Europa League would be a step in the right direction for the Manchester based club.

"The important thing now, I feel, is to win trophies again this season," said Rooney, as quoted by the Telegraph. "It's been a few years since we won a trophy. This is more or less a new team so for ourselves, as a team, we need to win something. The fans want to see us win something again.

"Obviously the Champions League is massive for this club and it was disappointing to go out of it. We'll keep going in the league, keep trying. But our main aim has to be to make sure we can get in that top four.

"And then the Europa League, it would be great if we can win that. It's not where we wanted to be at the start of the season. But it's where we've found ourselves so why not go and try to win it."