Joel Glazer emerged from the shadows to write an open letter to Manchester United supporters in April last year. The European Super League proposal had just collapsed and the anger with the club's American owners had intensified to another, palpable level.
"We got it wrong, and we want to show that we can put things right," Glazer wrote, promising to make amends. The promise was immediately considered futile by supporters and they were right to take that stance - they are not naive. It has been a year since the Glazers promised to put things right and little at the club appears to have changed. The problems at Old Trafford are frustratingly familiar.
Erik ten Hag had raised morale in pre-season and he seemed like the authoritarian personality the dressing room required, but the Dutchman can only work with the squad at his disposal. There have just been three new signings this summer and the starting line up which played against Brighton on Sunday had barely changed. Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez were the only new faces.
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United recorded their lowest Premier League points total of all time last season and it was clear that every position needed to be strengthened. United should have prioritised signing a defensive midfielder and a centre-forward and neither position has been addressed. Ten Hag has been given the club's unwavering support in the transfer market to the extent of foolishness.
The club have been keen to give Ten Hag exactly what he wants this summer and the 52-year-old has signed three players with Eredivisie pedigree. There is a lack of identity and vision at United and they are hoping Ten Hag is a messiah-like figure.
That is not how you run an elite football club. While Ten Hag needs the club's support, it should be within reason. There needs to be framework in place to ensure recruitment is aligned and sustainable. There needs to be continuity and that is painfully absent.
Jurgen Klopp famously didn't want to sign Mohamed Salah but Liverpool's scouting department and hierarchy insisted it was the right deal. John Murtough is responsible for first-team recruitment at United and this transfer window is becoming a circus.
Although United were humiliated against Brighton at the weekend, the news that their interest in signing Marko Arnautovic was genuine was somehow more embarrassing. Arnautovic might have even thought it was a joke himself when he was informed.
Arnautovic has played for Werder Bremen, Stoke City, West Ham United and Shanghai Port and it would be a compliment to consider him mediocre, when in reality, United consider him as a pragmatic, short-term option to support the starting forwards.
United also consider him an ideal character for a dressing room. Arnautovic insisted he was 'not a racist' after he celebrated scoring at Euro 2020. It was alleged he used an anti-Albanian slur and UEFA handed him a one-game ban following an investigation. There should also be an investigation into why United are open to signing Arnautovic.
Adrien Rabiot has credentials to play for United, but the manner in which the club have been left scrambling for signings after a public transfer saga with Barcelona and a defeat against Brighton has been humiliating.
Rabiot has pedigree with elite European sides but his inclusion in France's national team has regularly been a source of bemusement for followers of Les Bleus . Although the midfielder is an improvement on the club's current crop, he's hardly an inspired choice.
The supporters who endured the embarrassment of last season were blindly hoping that the club were going to get this summer right. It has become farcical instead and the club's interest in Arnautovic has confirmed that Manchester United have lost their identity.
Ten Hag has been let down by the club this summer and the fans are bound to be the biggest victims again. Joel Glazer promised to put things right last year, but nothing at the club has been right for a decade. There have been too many broken promises.
There are three weeks left in the transfer window and it's clear those will define the season.
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