Mikel Arteta has already given Erik ten Hag the ideal blueprint to copy from if he is to overhaul the Manchester United squad.
The Dutchman is set to join from Ajax at the end of the season after four years in the Eredivisie where he has forged an eye-catching style of football that has caught the attention of many on the continent. It was his Ajax side full of homegrown talent that reached the Champions League semi-final in 2019.
United have had a disastrous campaign after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and replacing him with Ralf Rangnick, who joined on an interim basis until the end of the season. But the German has barely improved matters and the club look set to miss out on Champions League football.
Now Ten Hag has been tasked with taking the Red Devils back to loftier heights while Rangnick has already given his verdict on the current crop. He has insisted that it might take as many as 10 new transfers in the summer to rejuvenate the club.
That just emphasises the size of the job on Ten Hag's hands, who must also find a way to boot out the underperformers still dwelling in the squad. However, one Premier League manager is currently undergoing such a task.
Arteta joined Arsenal in late 2019 after some years working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and joined a club in disarray. Results were poor, the fans were angry and the dressing room was toxic.
Now at the tail end of his third season in charge, this is now a team that only be branded Arteta's side. Only a small handful of players still reside from the Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery era, and they are looking likely to leave this summer.
It will potentially mean that next year will be an Arsenal side that only has players signed or developed by Arteta while he is looking to return them to the Champions League for the first time in five years. And he has done it his own way.
While there have naturally been some bumps along the way, it is hard to deny that the Spaniard has done a fine job at the Emirates so far and that fans can be positive about the future under his stewardship.
More importantly, the owners have given Arteta license to do as he please alongside technical director Edu - who is singing from the same hymn sheet. It represents a change from the hip-fire transfer business they have conducted in the past.
All of this and more is needed at United where Ten Hag will move in the summer. If he can replicate Arteta's system at Old Trafford, then fans might start believing that the club has finally turned a corner.
