Ten years ago, when Sir Alex Ferguson spent over £10m on Championship winger Wilfried Zaha to bring him from Crystal Palace to Old Trafford, it was seen as a statement signing by Manchester United.
Many of the Premier League's top sides were interested in signing Zaha, including Arsene Wenger. Still, Ferguson trumped them with a sizeable sum, showing his trust that the player could be developed into a top talent.
And with a track record of developing wingers, which included the likes of Nani, Ryan Giggs, Andrei Kanchelskis, David Beckham, and of course Cristiano Ronaldo, there was a clear expectation that this would be business as usual, even with Ferguson retiring and David Moyes set to take the helm.
Zaha was the last gift to the new manager, alongside a thoroughly scouted and fleshed out deal for Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona to act as a midfield creator to go alongside him, according to reports by ESPN.
But of course, when Moyes came in, that all changed.
Firstly Moyes vetoed the deal for Thiago, stating he did not know enough about the player's credentials. He then also completely restructured United's backroom, removing the likes of Mike Phelan and Eric Steele from their roles, and due to the changes, Rene Meulensteen decided to leave a few weeks later.
Moyes said later in an interview with beIN Sports in 2019: "I had offered Rene the job and in the end, he had decided not to stay. In hindsight, had I known Rene wasn't going to stay would I have been better keeping Mike?
"That's decisions, but that's what happens in football management. You make your decisions and you go with it. You see that quite often managers when they move clubs and take their whole staff with them, so it wouldn't be unusual for me to do that."
But without that top-level coaching staff, Zaha's ceiling immediately collapsed and soon, the next big star at Old Trafford was out on loan at Cardiff City after being deemed not good enough by Moyes. Of course we all know how the Scottish manager's short tenure ended within the first season.
And by the end of the 2014/15 season, he had returned to Palace, first on loan and then followed by a permanent £3.42m transfer, a promise unfulfilled. Zaha has had a decent career, but now aged 30, it is a massive case of what if rather than potential fulfilled.
And this is an issue United are currently facing under Ralf Rangnick. The German wants to bring in at least a midfielder in the January window, with RB Leipzig's Amadou Haidara and Marseille's Boubacar Kamara linked.
But it is still unclear who the next permanent manager of United will be, so it is risky to sign a player that may not fit into the next manager's vision.
United have the added benefit this time round as Rangnick has a two-year consultancy role at the end of his contract, where he will work alongside United's existing structure to set out and guide the club's project.
But football is a fast-paced and volatile business, so unless the perfect target emerges, maybe United should think twice about making a signing with the future in mind this January.
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