On their pre-season tour of North America, Manchester United will brace themselves for a Premier League season posing many new, uncertain challenges. Ander Herrera, one of the club's most vocal advocates, isn't particularly overawed by the prospect, however.
For the Spaniard, Manchester United remain "the biggest club in the Premier League," and he sees plenty around him to be quietly confident that the good times will return.
Five seasons have passed since United last won the Premier League title, and as they prepare to open up the 2018/19 edition with a Friday night fixture against Leicester City, the club can't but be aware of the strength and depth some of their direct opponents have available to them.
In a busy summer, two of last year's last top 6 have switched managers; while Liverpool have been particularly active in the transfer market. Carrying the company message with incredible aplomb, however, Herrera is more concerned with what is going on behind closed doors:
This club – one of the things I like the most is that we give a lot of importance to the academy.
With a slight nod, one would feel, to some of their opponents' hectic spending, Ander Herrera conceded that "not every team in the Premier League" can adopt such a nurturing approach to development.
Forever the advocate of United's desired outlook, Herrera scarcely addressed the sense of anticlimax that has surrounded the club's summer tour. With most of the club's highly-rated players in absentia after World Cup duty, United's opening fixture against Mexico's Club América in Phoenix, Arizona was played out in front of a significantly sparse crowd.
Perhaps speaking to those North American fans as yet undecided whether or not to attend a pre-season fixture containing less than a full selection of bona fide stars, Herrera assured listeners that these young players filling the void "are very good."
