Marcus Rashford was adamant that Manchester United are close to winning major trophies following his side's penalty shootout defeat to Villarreal in Wednesday's Europa League final.
"We are close," Rashford told BT Sport.
"I promise we are close. Close is not good enough, we have to be there.
"There’s no chance that the team gives up. The manager will not give up. He won’t allow us to give up and we will come next season with a bigger desire.
"People say a lot about Manchester United, that they're going down hill, but for me, the club, the desire, the hunger, the talent, the ability, the squad, we have everything to compete at the highest level. We just have to show it to the world and show it to ourselves.
"Show why we belong in the top places, why we belong in finals like this, why we need to be winning finals like this."
Marcus Rashford interview after Europa League final
United legend Paul Scholes took issue with Rashford's assertion.
"I think he spoke well but the time for speaking is done for me," he said.
"It’s time to start showing. When he says they are close, are they really that close?
"Beaten in the Europa League final by Villarreal, a place with a population of 50,000. Beat by them.
"Second in the league, 14 points behind Manchester City. Doesn’t feel like it’s close."
Scholes added that he does believe the club has made progress under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
"The thing I worry about is, does losing hurt them enough? It's almost become an accepted thing," said Scholes.
"I think there's a lot of players that it (losing) doesn't really hurt them. There are few, you look at Bruno Fernandes and Cavani, they won't like it. There are the ones who look to me like they are proper hurt when they get beat. The others, it can look a little bit acceptable.
"Even from the manager, sometimes, it looks a little bit acceptable. United have almost become a nice club that people like."
Quiz: Name Manchester United's Opponents In Every European Final
