In-form Wolves striker Diogo Jota, the curse of Manchester United last season, believes Ole Gunnar's Solskjaer's men risk losing their No 1 status around the world unless they start winning again soon.
United are traditionally seen as the biggest club in England and have topped the attendance charts at Old Trafford for the last 25 years.
But taking his native Portugal as an example, Jota can see United being usurped by Liverpool and Manchester City in terms of global popularity among younger fans.
'Of course Man United will always be a great team. But when City and Liverpool are winning titles, they have more fans supporting them in Portugal,' says Jota.
'It has to do with the moment and we have to be honest and say that Liverpool is having a better moment right now than Man United.
'Everyone likes winners and when the younger fans look at other countries, they like to see a team that is winning like Man City and Liverpool.'
Jota, 22, explains his reasoning politely and matter-of-fact rather than trying to deliberately wind up United who haven't been champions since 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
And to further boost his confidence, Jota scored a hat-trick against Leicester the last time he faced United's new £80million defender Harry Maguire, though the England centre-half withdrew injured after his first goal.
'This is a new season – nothing to do with matches last season,' says Jota. 'If you looked at Manchester United in their first game against Chelsea, they looked very strong. I think it's going to be hard for us. We have to hold them when we need to, then try to get on the attack.
'United have tried to improve their team and have had time to work with each other in pre-season.
'Of course Harry Maguire has qualities but our job is to try and get past him. Those valuations for players are hard to explain. The market is unreal but it's nothing to do with me. It is to do with the clubs and the moment we are living. I know the defenders we have in our team and I trust them.'
'It's too early to think about the final Premier League table,' insists Jota. 'It's true we finished seventh last time but it'll be hard to do it again. We have to realise it won't be easy. Lots of teams have spent more money than us and will try to get there as well.'
Though there was surprise that Nuno Espirito Santo gave his first-choice strikers Raul Jimenez and Jota a run-out from the bench on Thursday, it worked with the pair combining for Jota's fantastic bicycle kick.
He admits it's given him a lift. 'Anyone who scores a goal will get confidence from it, particularly if you are a striker because you live for goals and assists,' he said.
'Acrobatic shots just happen – you don't think about them too much beforehand. You can’t avoid the fact we were already winning 7-0 on aggregate so maybe you feel more free to try things. But this kind of situation can happen in every moment in every game.'