Manchester United reportedly set their sights on a top-six finish next season, even though they are on track for their worst competition finish in more than 50 years.
With two games to go in the current Premier League season, United is going in 16th place and it still has to reach the magical 40-point marking, a count that most clubs are fighting by the start of the campaign.
The defeat of the Red Devils against West Ham on Sunday afternoon was their 17th League defeat of the campaign, the most they have been kicked since the club was relegated in 1974.
Nine of those losses came in Old Trafford, including the 2-0 defeat by the Hammers, which is a joint club record. The last time United lost many home games in one campaign was 62 years ago.
The side of Ruben Amorim are now seven league matches without a victory, and although reaching the Europa League final offered much needed distraction, the domestic problems of United are worse than ever in the Premier League era.
Despite all this, according to Manchester Evening News, the United Hierarchy has set an objective for Amorim and his players next season.
However, whether the Portuguese coach will even be in the club in August was questioned after comments he made after he had lost their 13th league match under his stewardship.
“It's not the player's fault. It is my fault, I am responsible. If we can't really change that quickly, we have to give our place to different people, “Amorim said.
United has plummeted to depth that even seemed unthinkable 12 months ago, when Erik Ten Hag was under pressure for a low eighth place finish.
This season it remains feasible that the Red Devils could end as low as 17th, with only the three promoted clubs that ended among them. The worst of the rest.
Since the arrival in November, Amorim has only achieved six wins of 25 games in the Premier League. Three of them came against Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich, all of whom were banned.
In Europe it is a different ball game. United has gone unbeaten the entire Europa League season and are ready to compete against colleague-inland Rekers Tottenham in the showpiece of the competition in Bilbao next week. The winner is eligible for the Champions League.
However, the final is the last thing Amorim's thoughts in. His worries seem exclusively aimed at changing the fortunes of the club in the Premier League.
“To be honest, I'm not worried about the final,” Amorim went on. 'It's by far the smallest problem in our club. We have to change something that is deeper than this.
'We show that at the end of this season we are not … Playing in the Premier League and Champions League for us the moon. So we must know that.
'I'm not worried about the final. They will be focused and I don't know what is best, if it plays in Champions League or not. So let's think about Chelsea to improve many things. '
No matter how many points United have been collected from their last two games, which are against Champions League Chasers Chelsea and Aston Villa, the club will take their worst competition finish because they dropped to the second layer in 1974.
To end in the top six this season, it is possible that the clubs in the running, such as Villa and the Blues, need 69 points.
The Red Devils currently only have 39 points to their name, which means that they have to improve dramatically to touch their supposed goal in the next term.