Manchester United stand on the verge of yet another period of massive transition.
It feels like an almost annual tradition that Old Trafford bosses are forced to hit pause…and subsequently rewind on any of their plans for immediate success.
Last summer felt like the first time in a number of years that United had taken a genuine step to go from nearly-men to genuine title contenders.
Having finished second in 2020/21, United went out and landed Jadon Sancho for £73million, Raphael Varane for £45m and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo.
And regardless of how Roy Keane tried to dress it in a Sky Sports studio, that trio came to Manchester United with the sole purpose of winning league titles.
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Alas, with more than a quarter of the campaign remaining, United are left resigned to battling for a Champions League berth, a mere blip on the horizon for title challengers Manchester City and Liverpool.
The dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November, the fourth permanent manager to lose his job in eight years, United’s planned return to the top of the English game has stalled.
For all of the talk of ‘knowing the club’ and ‘cultural resets’, Solskjaer’s tenure ended just as his predecessors’ had - well off the pace and lightyears behind Europe's best.
Ralf Rangnick was hired as an interim boss - a decision which dumbfounded supporters, with many believing it was a case of kicking the can down the road.
That incredulity was only reduced when it was revealed that the German would be staying on beyond next summer, signing a deal which would see him take on a consultancy role for a further two years.
The calls for more ‘football people’ behind the scenes were somewhat answered with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher being named as Football and Technical directors respectively, with Rangnick also primed to add his expertise.
There was a belief that for the first time since the latter years of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, there would be a semblance of joined-up thinking.
Each manager since his retirement nine years ago has been able to go into transfer windows signing players that they, and they alone felt were right for the club.
It has led to a culture of managers leaving, with often, their ideas and players following them out the door.
For David Moyes, it was Marouanne Fellaini, for Louis van Gaal, the cycle repeated with Bastian Schweinsteiger.
New CEO Richard Arnold recently boasted of a “clear vision and strategy” which would drive the team forward.
But the Manchester Evening News report that United risk falling right back into their existing pattern.
The report claims that any new manager will have the power to veto any transfer target drawn up in the months prior to his appointment, hinting that the head coach will have the lion's share of power in the recruitment process.
Should Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola leave Liverpool or Man City overnight, there is a belief that there is a plan in place to ensure the culture they have instilled stays beyond their presence in the dugout.
At United, it appears they are willing to put all their eggs in the same dugout once again. The question of where that leaves people like Murtough, Fletcher and Rangnick is a question for another day.
United have a chance to finally move on from the days of Sir Alex having full control over the corridors at Carrington and Old Trafford, but they risk blowing it once again.
