Erik ten Hag would have had every right to take a moment to celebrate everything he has achieved for Ajax - yet him refusing to do so underlines his elite mentality and that Manchester United might finally have chosen the right man to pick up the baton from Sir Alex Ferguson.
Sea, sand and stunning scenery might have awaited for Ten Hag following his Ajax swansong. However, as his title-winning squad prepare to board the plane to jet off to Curacao in the Dutch Caribbean region, there will be at least one empty seat when that Amsterdam-emblazoned aircraft departs west.
Contrary to reports, the 52-year-old has not traded in his Airmiles for an early flight to Manchester, but his decision not to go on that customary end-of-season trip has been made with one objective in mind; switching focus straight to the impending challenge that awaits him at Carrington.
READ MORE: Erik ten Hag outlines Manchester United plans after making Ajax trip decision
A glance through the holiday brochures would be enough to question that decision...
However, as far as Ten Hag is concerned, business takes precedence over business class and this little nudge to his mindset also suggests United have learned from one glaring and well-documented mistake. You might argue there are too many in that bracket to understand exactly what it relates to.
"There will be a party with the staff, but I'm not going to Curacao. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done [at Manchester United] and I think that's understandable. This applies to every [new] club. A number of things still need to be organised for the staff and also with the squad. We will be working intensively on that from tomorrow."
The words of Ten Hag as he prepares to swap his tanning lotion for tactics boards and contacts book. United might not have expected any different from a man who restored Ajax to the top of the pile domestically during four years which brought three Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cup trophies.
Of course, there was also THAT run to the Champions League semis in 2019 when a new, menacing Ajax generation including Donny van de Beek and Frenkie de Jong emerged on the European stage.
In full credit to Ten Hag and the Ajax way, that star-studded group was broken up and pieced out among the elite and the man at the centre of it all, Ten Hag, is gearing up for his own grand opportunity that will result in a reunion with at least one of those players above.
First up to the plate when Sir Alex retired, it was always going to be a difficult ask for David Moyes and so that proved when the Scot was sacked 10 months after stepping into the dugout. Whatever your stance on that is with a dash of hindsight, though, there was one fundamental oversight.
With a delayed arrival at Old Trafford - due to contract agreements with former club Everton - Moyes was afforded reduced preparation time for the 2013/2014 season and that left United falling short in the transfer market. There are plenty of pre-summer similarities this time around, too.
It was a creative midfielder that Moyes most-prominently missed out on and, while that was not the only factor, it was contributory to him picking up his P45 before the campaign was out. Once again, with Ten Hag preparing to jet over to Manchester, central midfield - albeit defensively - is THE hot transfer topic.
Similarly to 2013, a post-Covid market offers its own complications and then a hasty restart prompted by the winter World Cup in Qatar poses another question. However, the key difference on this occasion is United have made their move as quickly and efficiently as possible.
A further shake-up awaits behind the scenes and United supporters hope this is finally their time to rise again. Amid the countless false dawns that have come before, though, (departing) key figures in the Old Trafford boardroom and Ten Hag have at least given themselves the best opportunity to see genuine light at the end of the tunnel.
That does not even come from the end of the Curacao runway.
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