Nicky Butt played a huge part in the good times at Old Trafford.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United midfielder won six Premier League titles, the FA Cup three times and the Champions League between 1995 and 2004.
As a local boy, Butt has an acute sense of what Manchester United are supposed to be. Like many of his former teammates, he is outspoken about the club's struggles to live up to expectations.
Nicky Butt on the state of Manchester United
"For me, it’s fundamentally that the club is rotten from the bottom up at the minute," Butt tells FourFourTwo.
"If you brought prime Sir Alex Ferguson back in, he wouldn’t be able to turn it around straight away, it would still take time. If you put Pep Guardiola in there, or Jurgen Klopp, it wouldn’t work either.
"Ultimately, I think the players we’re buying and the players that we’re able to buy aren’t at the level we used to have, so it’s about accepting the fact that it’s going to take five to eight years in order to get the club back to anywhere near winning the Premier League.
"It’s been a s**tshow."
Butt's prognosis is bleak but not without justification. The Red Devils became accustomed to success and have won the Europa League and FA Cup since Ferguson retired, but the Premier League title has now eluded them under successive managers.
They finished second under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær but it would be difficult to argue that the club has made positive progress with Erik ten Hag and then Ruben Amorim at the helm.
In 2024/25, Manchester United finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league position since relegation in 1974. They reached the Europa League final but were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur and missed out on a last-gasp Champions League place.
Butt, who played 39 times for England, left Old Trafford in 2004 and spent six seasons at Newcastle United including one on loan with Birmingham City.
The 50-year-old was part of the ex-United group running Salford City until he left in 2024 to further his coaching career.
Judging by his comments, he won't be tempted to take on the ultimate challenge any time soon.
