Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says the club are "not ready" to be competitive in the Premier League AND the UEFA Champions League next season.
Man Utd would qualify for next season's Champions League if they were to win this season's Europa League. They are 3-0 up against Athletic Bilbao ahead of the second leg of their semi-final at Old Trafford on Thursday.
If they progress, they will meet either Tottenham Hotspur or Bodo/Glimt in the final to play for silverware and a place in the 2025/26 Champions League.
But despite their European run, Man Utd's 4-3 loss at Brentford on Sunday means Amorim's side have now lost 16 league matches this season, their most in a campaign for 35 years, while they have gone six consecutive Premier League games without a win for the first time since December 2015.
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Indeed, since Amorim took charge of United on 11 November, only the relegated sides Ipswich Town (3), Leicester Leicester (3), and Southampton (1) have won fewer Premier League matches than United (6).
That form has dropped Man Utd to 15th in the table and is giving Amorim concerns despite his team's success in Europe.
"We are not ready to play in the Premier League, be competitive, and to be in the Champions League," Amorim told Sky Sports.
"We know that, but we need to win, and we need to fight to win this competition [Europa League], to give something to our fans, and to go to the Champions League.
"Then we will have time to prepare the team to cope with those two competitions. So, it is a dilemma, but we want to win, of course."
Amorim made eight changes to his starting XI at Brentford, naming the third-youngest side in Premier League history. United's starting XI, with an average age of just 22 years and 270 days, ranked behind only Middlesbrough's team at Fulham in May 2006 (20 years and 181 days) and Arsenal's side at Portsmouth in May 2009 (22 years and 237 days).
Man Utd also handed a full debut to Danish striker Chido Obi, aged 17 years and 156 days old, as he became their youngest-ever player to start a Premier League match.
Amorim says he rung the changes with Thursday's Europa League match in mind.
"We are losing games in the Premier League, we are fighting for the Europa League, so we need to accept that and to think about Thursday as the most important game for us.
"Thursday is the most important game. The end of this season is very important."
Amorim updates on De Ligt injury
Man Utd were dealt a blow in the first half of Sunday's loss as Matthijs de Ligt limped off with an injury, being replaced by Harry Maguire.
Amorim was asked about De Ligt in his post-match press conference: "I hope it is [only] a small issue because I am concerned, not only about this game [against Athletic Bilbao, but about the squad for the next year]."
"I just don’t want a big issue because we had a problem with Licha [Lisandro Martinez, who suffered an ACL injury in February]. With Mattha, I don’t know. I’m just talking, I have no idea. He could be training in three days, I don’t know."
To BBC Sport, he added: "I hope it's nothing serious. We took a risk with [Harry] Maguire [having to come on].
"[Luke] Shaw had to go off [at half-time] because we need players for Thursday."