Manchester, May 25 (IANS): English football club Manchester United's captain Wayne Rooney believes his side will be front-runners for the Premier League title next season with just a few new additions to the squad.

"I believe we are (close to winning the title) as a group of players. Myself and the manager - we all believe we're close and I'm sure with a player or two in the summer, we'll have a good chance of going for the title," Rooney was quoted as saying by goal.com.

United manager Louis van Gaal arrived at Old Trafford this July with the aim of getting back the team in to the Champions League, which he did as his side finished fourth this season to book a place in the competition's qualifying rounds following Sunday's goalless draw at Hull City.

United, who had roped in Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind ended the summer 17 points adrift of winners Chelsea, but Rooney believes the gap is not too big after a wobbly start to the season.

"You take the first 10, 11 games and we had 13 points. When you consider from after that, the amount of games to where we've finished, we've probably got as many points after that as anyone else. We're close, there's no doubt about it. You can see in our performances, we're outplaying teams, dominating possession, and it's just that final thing of taking our chances,” he said.