Dimitar Berbatov says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must lead the challenge for the Premier League title next season after being appointed Manchester United manager on a permanent basis.
The Norwegian put pen to paper on a three-year deal on Thursday after winning 14 of his 19 games in charge as caretaker manager since replacing Jose Mourinho in December.
The arrival of the 45-year-old has sparked life into the Man Utd squad after their worst start to a Premier League season in 28 years left them in sixth place and 11 points adrift of the top four.
Not only have they caught their top four rivals, they are now just two points behind third-placed Tottenham with eight games remaining and are into the Champions League quarter-finals.
But despite his undeniable impact, former United striker Berbatov believes Solskjaer will be under pressure to challenge for a first league title since 2013 if he wants to stay in charge of the Red Devils.
"Getting the job is a brilliant first step, but in many ways the difficult work starts now," he told Betfair.
"The pressure is going to be huge - Ole will now be fighting to keep the job, rather than get it.
"I've heard the argument that United were holding off appointing Solskjaer full-time to keep the players hungry, but there is no way they will take their foot off the pedal - these are top professionals and they have loads to play for.
"The aim this season will be to get in that top four - and as far as they can in the Champions League of course - but come next season they need to be targeting the title. This is Manchester United we are talking about!
"Ole has had the chance to look at the team this season and he absolutely needs to be fighting for all the big prizes next season."
Solskjaer's side welcome Watford to Old Trafford on Saturday before a midweek trip to Wolves three days later.
