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Nicky Butt says he is looking for future Champions League winners in his new role as head of Manchester United’s academy.

The former United midfielder’s promotion was announced on Monday after a year-long search to find Brian McClair’s successor after he took a job with the Scottish FA in February 2015.

Butt won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the Champions League during a 12-year career at Old Trafford after coming through the academy.

And the 41-year-old says his aim in his new role is to find players capable of winning Europe’s top club competition – just like he did in 1999.

Butt said: “We want another Giggs, Neville or Scholes, these one-club guys who play here for many years and contribute to the club.

“That’s what our aim is. We’re very proud when they make their debuts, very proud when they have careers in the Championship and League One but, ultimately, the aim is to provide top, top class players for Manchester United that can go on to win the Champions League.

WATCH: Rob Dawson on Nicky Butt's appointment.

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“It’s hard and we know it’s very, very hard to do that but it has got to be the ultimate goal and everyone knows that.”

One of the challenges facing Butt is dealing with the increased investment in youth development at neighbours Manchester City.

But the former England midfielder insists United will not start throwing more money at youngsters to attract them to Old Trafford. And he says the one of the key parts of his job is to keep the club’s youngsters ‘grounded’.

He added: “A massive part of the academy is to keep them grounded and not give them too much because there’s a lot of stuff in the papers about how other clubs have got x, y and z.

“We don’t believe they should have that much at an early age. We keep them grounded and humble with the right facilities for the team to play in but, as important as the good things, we’ve got to make it hard for them as well.

“A lot of lads get it too easy and, when it becomes hard, they don’t know how to deal with it. It’s our job to find the balance.

(Image: Paul Simpson)

“If you’re too soft, you’re not going to be able to deal with that. You’ve got to have great facilities, which we feel we’ve got here, but you need a lot of tough things as well.

“You can be having everything easy. You’ve got to have a bit of the hard stuff as well, got to have a bit of a slog, play on bad surfaces, sometimes play against bad teams, bad crowds, with wind and rain-swept pitches.

“Football is not always about Old Trafford, the Nou Camp or the Bernabeu.”

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