Erik ten Hag knew the task before him when he accepted the Manchester United job.
His decision not to go on holiday and instead spend that time planning for the rebuild showed how seriously he took it, but also how big the overhaul job is.
The Dutchman arrived on the back of four big first team departures; Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic all leaving for nothing upon the expiration of their contracts in June.
READ MORE: Manchester United announce Antony signing
A defensive midfielder was needed, and although fans may feel it took a strange route and a lot of time, Ten Hag eventually managed to land his man in Casemiro. He became his fourth signing as United boss after Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez.
But it has taken until the final week of the window for Ten Hag to meet one of his other main transfer objectives. “I think it’s vital if you want to get success, the season is really long,” he said when asked about signing a forward.
“That is a reason, but also the number of games. You need more options in offence. But we also have still time to fill that in. But I also know this season, a lot of games, World Cup, so we need more options.”
He summarised: “We have a good team, we need a good squad to get the right results at the end of the season.” The big-money acquisition of Antony is set to finally meet his desire for more attacking options.
The Brazilian will rank inside the top 10 highest transfer fees in Premier League history, showing how hard Ten Hag has had to fight to get the offensive personnel he needs.
All this and he may yet still end the window with a shortfall up top if Cristiano Ronaldo does indeed facilitate a much-anticipated exit. Anthony Martial is still recovering from an Achilles injury, the second setback already this season.
Ten Hag has already outlined that he sees Marcus Rashford as a centre-forward option, so the Englishman may be in line for more outings leading the line this season - especially given Antony’s wing play, Martial’s injury record and Ronaldo’s possible exit.
But nevertheless, with Martin Dubravka set to arrive from Newcastle as David de Gea’s back-up, Ten Hag has managed to bring in players in most of the positions he wanted to this summer, even if they were not his initial first choice.
Meanwhile, competition for Diogo Dalot at right-back could be arriving in the shape of Sergino Dest. But Antony has plugged a hole in Ten Hag’s plans, and thus the Reds manager has proven he is able to carry out what he sets out to complete.
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