Redknapp Warns Man United Or Arsenal Could Drop Out Of

By Max Wise

Former Tottenham Hotspurs boss, Harry Redknapp, believes either Manchester United or Arsenal could drop out of the Premier League ‘top six’ next season with one of Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers or West Ham United taking their place.

The competitiveness of the Premier League has been reinforced in the past decade by the breakaway of the traditional ‘top four’ of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool into a ‘top six’ following the emergence of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs.

The result means that at least one of the biggest clubs in England will likely miss out on Champions League football every season with only a win in Europe’s premier club competition or a Europa League triumph offering them reprieve if they fail to make the top four.

Arsenal and Manchester United were the ones who missed out last season after they finished in fifth and sixth places respectively.

Redknapp, who led Tottenham Hotspurs into the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the 2010/2011 season, believes Unai Emery and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer risk falling further behind the top four if they do not conduct major surgeries on their respective squads.

“I think next season we might see one of the big six dropping out,” he told Ally McCoist and Laura Woods on Thursday’s Sports Breakfast.

“I’m not sure how strong Arsenal are defensively and, unless they bring some players in, I don’t see where they’re going to be next year,

“I honestly think Manchester United are the same.

“Wan-Bissaka has a big future, but I think they need four, five, maybe even six players. I think they’re miles away.

“Man United need to bring in good players to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the chance to be successful and, looking at it at the moment, I wouldn’t see them making the top four.

“They need to restructure that team, there’s an awful lot of work that needs to be done there to get them challenging for the title again.

“Someone might creep into that top six next year, it would make a good change, wouldn’t it?

Wolves and Everton finished last season strongly while West Ham United have already started spending big with the acquisition of highly rated Spanish youngster Pablo Fornals from Villarreal, and Redknapp thinks one of those sides could gatecrash the top six.

“I think maybe Everton, they finished strongly last year, and West Ham will be closer this year. West Ham have made a couple of good signings and they could be a team that could certainly get closer.

“Even Wolves, they had a great season, they’ve got some fantastic players and they could be one of the teams getting in there.”