From Fergie's Fledglings to the Brexit Babes? A colleague coined the latter moniker for Alejandro Garnacho, Alvaro Fernandez and Marc Jurado, all signed during the transition period of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
United deprived Barcelona of Jurado, Fernandez left Real Madrid and Garnacho switched from Atletico in the summer of 2020. The United academy head Nick Cox acknowledged 'Brexit Babes' was a good headline (kudos to PA's Simon Peach) but downplayed the timing of the three amigos' moves.
"Recruitment of those players, European players, there was an intake that was never driven by Brexit," he insisted. "I completely get why people thought that was the case. We don't stockpile here, what we do is we look at where we've got gaps in our pipeline of players that might eventually puncture the first-team squad.
"And you start to go, 'Well, if we've got one in the squad of a certain age, if we've got enough sink beneath that might go and support that squad in two years, five years, eight years, 10 years'. That's how we recruit here.
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"So there was a need, a positional need to make sure that we could keep supporting the first-team squad, which is why we ended up bringing some players into the club. They had to be European-based players. But it wasn't a reaction to Brexit."
Jurado and Fernandez were on the same flight that touched down on the Manchester runway almost three years ago. There was such fanfare about Jurado, a right-back, and Fernandez, a left-back, that photographers captured their arrival at Terminal 3.
One fan clocked a United official's jacket and discourteously took a selfie with them, rather than Jurado or Fernandez. Garnacho, ironically the least-hyped of the trio, joined a month later.
All three have had various first-team experience but Garnacho remains the only United debutant. Fernandez was named on the bench four times by Ralf Rangnick and Jurado was an 11th-hour inclusion at Nottingham Forest in April.
Rangnick gave Garnacho his first run-out as a 17-year-old against Chelsea and touted him for a first-team promotion during his final press conference at Carrington. Hannibal Mejbri was also namechecked and made his sole United start in Rangnick's last match in charge at Crystal Palace.
Fernandez was viewed as another potential breakthrough. He first trained with the first team two years ago and featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Old Trafford against Stoke. His form at junior level was so impressive he accepted the reserve player of the year award in only his second season.
Due to his age, Fernandez was ineligible to figure in United's triumphant FA Youth Cup run in 2022 when Jurado and Garnacho were ever-presents. Stood pitchside at Old Trafford in a club tracksuit, Fernandez was one of the first to charge onto the pitch at the final whistle in the final.
Fernandez was unfortunate to be omitted from United's pre-season tour last year. Figures at the club say Erik ten Hag is especially decisive with academy talents with no pathway to the first team and while United were in Perth Fernandez joined Preston North End on loan.
United's outlook is those who are loaned to the Championship have the ability to break into the senior squad. Fernandez, already 20, acquitted himself creditably in 27 starts in the second tier and he played 42 times overall. Preston named Fernandez their young player of the year.
Fernandez's character matches his quality. He and Jurado were masked-up when they came through passport control with Covid-19 rife and they started intensive English lessons during their quarantine in England. They were introduced to their new coaches via Zoom calls.
Arnau Puigmal and Mateo Mejia, two Spaniards already in the United academy, FaceTimed their compatriots to help them settle. Jurado and Fernandez were communicating in fluent English with their teammates less than a year into their United careers.
"The first objective for any player that arrives from outside of the country is to settle and build relationships and acclimatise," Cox said. "In terms of where are you going to be living, what do you know about your environment.
"That's really the only expectation we have on [them]... in these early phases; it's just to settle."
With Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia unavailable for the maiden pre-season friendly against Leeds in Oslo, there is a compelling case for Fernandez to get the nod over the expendable Brandon Williams.
At the very least, Fernandez is due a half. Ten Hag made wholesale changes to United's outfield side midway through their first friendly last year against Liverpool and a repeat is probable in Norway, also not in the EU.
