It is 171 days since the Glazer family went public with their intention to sell or seek investment into Manchester United, but still the process drags on and the outcome remains uncertain.
The Jimmy Murphy Centre at Carrington, used as a hub for interested parties to be briefed on the situation at the club, remains out of action for some of its day-to-day business and nobody working there or at Old Trafford can say for any certainty which way the Glazers will fall.
Senior club staff have to speculate over which direction United will head in because nobody really knows. Erik ten Hag has kept his counsel on the takeover but beyond a chance meeting and a handshake with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, he is unlikely to be any wiser than the rest of us.
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When United were placed on the market on November 22 some industry insiders expected a sale by Easter. The process was being led by Raine, who had drummed up a remarkable auction for Chelsea and conducted a swift sale, although the circumstances were very clearly different.
United has failed to attract quite the level of interest, however, and the Glazers haven't got what they wanted. The brazen attempts to drum up competition and the three deadlines for new bids are clear signs that they are desperate to fleece this process for all it is worth.
But quite why it is taking this long is unclear. The MEN has been told that people close to Joel Glazer had told him it would come down to Qatar or Ratcliffe in November. The Glazers have employed Raine to tell them what they already knew.
If a sale is to happen it will be to the bid led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani or to Ratcliffe's Ineos group. There has been Qatari interest in the club stretching back a decade and Ratcliffe held talks with the Glazers less than a year ago.
Other than that, there has been some interest in funding from US private equity investors, but by now the Glazers must surely know which direction they want to go in, even accounting for the splits between the six siblings, with Joel and Avram reluctant sellers compared to Bryan, Kevin, Edward and Darcie.
As the six-month anniversary approaches with a decision still unclear, the transfer window now opens in less than a month. United's budget might not change markedly post-takeover, given the constraints of Financial Fair Play rules, but there would certainly be some wriggle room within it.
We are at the stage where transfer shortlists are being whittled down, contact made with representatives of targets, and discussions between clubs being initiated, but the obvious question for anyone being approached by United is who will own the club when players do actually join?
That might not be crucial to every target, but for anyone with a choice of clubs, it might be relevant. Plenty of players want to know they are joining a club in a stable situation, rather than in the midst of an uncertain takeover that could yet end in rancour if the Glazers decide to ride it out and stay put.
More pressing is the effect any sale or investment would have on transfers. When asked last week if he knew if he would have funds for the summer irrespective of the ownership situation, Ten Hag replied: "No, I don’t have influence on that.
"I don’t have… also I don’t know. The only thing I know is that Man Utd is one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the biggest two or three from a fanbase perspective.
"The club has to compete for the highest in the world, Champions League, Premier League, but in football you need funds to construct squads because at the end of the day, the level from your players decides if you are successful or not.
"Everyone knows you need funds to construct a squad and high-level players cost a lot of money and that’s the situation nowadays in top football."
Ten Hag has made a striker the top priority this summer, but United could also pursue another goalkeeper, a right-back and a midfielder if there is room in the budget. To be in mid-May and not be clear over who will be calling the shots when it comes to finance in this window is a bad look for a club the size of United.
But then this is nothing new for the Glazers. Every decision they have made in their 18-year ownership of the club has been about dollars rather than on-pitch success. They have been fuelled by profit rather than success.
Maybe expecting that to change now is fanciful, but Ten Hag has delivered for them. United were a laughing stock a year ago, now they look to be a club heading in the right direction under an astute manager capable of dealing with the pressure and pitfalls of life at Old Trafford.
They are selling a club in a reasonable place on the pitch, thanks to Ten Hag. They now need to deliver for him by bringing an end to his charade.
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