Rene Meulensteen admitted that he never believed that Manchester United would be "left behind" under Sir Alex Ferguson, as reports link the Dutchman with a return to the club.
Meulensteen spent six years at Old Trafford coaching under Ferguson during United's heyday, and a new report from ESPN has revealed that the 58-year-old could be on his way back to the club if - as expected - Erik ten Hag is appointed as Manchester United's new manager at the end of the season.
Ten Hag is set to be the fifth permanent manager United have appointed since Ferguson stepped down in 2013, and the 52-year-old will be tasked with restoring the club's fortunes in a bid to elevate United back to their perch at the pinnacle of English football.
If Meulensteen - who is currently an assistant coach with the Australian national team - is lured back to the club, then he'll be eager to play his part in rebuilding United. He admitted in an interview back with the club last year that he felt the club would never be left behind under Ferguson; United have failed to win the Premier League since the legendary Scotsman called time on his illustrious career after 26 years at the helm.
Speaking on his time working with Ferguson at the club, Meulensteen told Manchester United : "He brought me to United as a skills development coach, working with the youth players, then managing the Reserves and doing individual sessions with the first team. When Carlos Queiroz left in 2007, Mick Phelan became the new assistant manager and I became first-team coach. When I look back on that period of my life, only great memories come in my head.
"I think at that time, between 2007 and his retirement, Sir Alex had reached the highest pinnacle you can reach as a manager. He was very experienced in the sense that he had won so much but had also sampled some lesser times of not winning things, and the core ideas of his coaching and management were fully crystallised by that stage.
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"His approach to playing entertaining, attacking football never left him and – absolutely crucially – he was able to constantly move with the times. However fast the game evolved with technology, sports science and the development of the players themselves, he always managed to keep pace with everything. There was never a chance United would be left behind."
While United never faltered under Ferguson, they have badly regressed since losing their iconic leader. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all failed to bring major success back to Old Trafford over the past eight-and-a-half-years.
The onus is now on Ten Hag to alter United's trajectory; hence his desire to surround himself with figures who have experience at such a huge club. As well as Meulensteen, Steve McClaren has also been linked with a return to Old Trafford. He had a stint as Ferguson's assistant before going on to become a manager in his own right.
