Danny Murphy is sceptical whether the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United will be enough to challenge the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea for the Premier League title.

Ronaldo got off to a flying start by scoring two goals on his second debut for United, but Murphy questions whether the Red Devils will be able to find the right balance when they come up against better teams than Newcastle:

“Can they transfer that feel-good factor into the big games and pick a team that has the right balance to compete with Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City? I don’t think so. Even with Ronaldo there. Are they better than Chelsea? I don’t think so. Are they better than Man City and Liverpool? I don’t think so. I don’t think just Ronaldo gives the team balance. He’s a wonderful striker who will score a lot of goals, wonderful player. But the balance of that team, and squad, isn’t the same level as the teams I’ve just said.”

At the moment, it is difficult to tell how much of an effect Ronaldo’s arrival will have on the title race. City are the favourites with every bookmaker for a reason. Their squad have won the league on numerous occasions before and their manager Pep Guardiola is a serial winner. Both Chelsea and Liverpool also have similar factors in their favour.

For United, however, adding Ronaldo and Varane into the mix will surely strengthen their winning mentality but they are still guided by a manager, in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is unproven and has fallen short in big games since being appointed head coach.