And the tallest player of them all, 6ft 5in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has warned his United team-mates it is essential they lay down an early marker in the title race by maintaining their 100 per cent start to the season and ending that of their bitter derby rivals as he urged the home supporters to create a hostile environment for their opponents.

“It is a long season but we have started well,” the United striker said. “We have the ambition to win the title and it will be important that we try and take points off the teams that will be challenging [us]. These games always mean so much to the fans and we want to win for them but the players must always be focused.