Dwight Yorke believes Manchester United are "a very good side" and that Manchester City aren't as far in front of their rivals as the Premier League table suggests.
Pep Guardiola’s side swept to title glory this season in record-breaking style, with the Red Devils left 19 points off the pace in second.
Yorke believes that gap does not tell the whole story, though, with United having shown signs of further improvement during Jose Mourinho’s second campaign at the helm.
He expects the club to remain on an upward curve, with there enough quality within the ranks at Old Trafford to suggest a challenge for top-flight glory can be sustained next term.
The former Red Devils striker told The Sun: "There is no way Manchester City are 19 points better than this United team. This is a very good side that Jose Mourinho has assembled.
"The proof has been there with victories over Spurs at Wembley, the comeback against City in the derby and home wins over both Chelsea and Liverpool.
"The away win at Arsenal was a cracker, too. You cannot tell me those were not top performances.
"But you can never take your opponent for granted and I think the manager has seen performance levels drop based on the opposition at times this season.
"There is no lack of ability in this team. You look at [Romelu] Lukaku, [Marcus] Rashford, [Alexis] Sanchez, [Jesse] Lingard, [Paul] Pogba, [Juan] Mata, these are all great players.
"It has the league’s second-best defensive record and, in David de Gea, the best keeper in the world. They just need to get that mentality right for every game.
"United have gone from sixth to second and are now in a third major final in two seasons. Mourinho has got the club going in the right direction again."
More major silverware at Wembley this Saturday would help to highlight the progress being made by United, with Yorke expecting the Red Devils to prove too strong for inconsistent Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
He added: "I fully expect United to win. I’m not being biased — I just believe they are the better side.
"Chelsea have had a really poor season and seem to be ending it with something of a whimper.
"Of course they’ll lift themselves for this - but so will United.
"They just need to do that for every game next season.
"I think the fact they haven’t always been able to do that has been the major cause of frustration for the manager this season."