When Manchester City's era of success is discussed it usually revolves around one man. Pep Guardiola is king of all he surveys at the Etihad and the architect of some of the most dominant and impressive teams the Premier League has seen.
But when his influence was put to Erik ten Hag a week ago, it was interesting to hear the Dutchman shine the spotlight on someone else. "I don't know if that is true," Ten Hag said when it was suggested to him the most important person at a club should be the manager, just like Guardiola at City.
"Don't underestimate the role of [Txiki] Begiristain," said the United manager. It was a pointed reference that the success of a football club as a whole is never down to just the manager. They need the right players, capable of fitting into a style of play and adding quality.
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But when it comes to the role of sporting directors such as Begiristian - and United's John Murtough - recruiting players is only half the job. Selling them is key as well.
Ten Hag enjoyed an excellent relationship with Marc Overmars at Ajax, before the former Arsenal winger left in February last year after sending inappropriate messages to a female colleague. The indications are he's also working well with Murtough at Old Trafford.
The manager certainly got his way over transfers a year ago. The £225million spent was over budget and the fact they continued to push for Antony on Ten Hag's say-so showed the influence he had.
That sending is going to have an effect this summer in an era of financial fair play and cost controls. United don't have the budget to do everything Ten Hag wants, especially when the acquisition of a striker is going to take a significant chunk out of those figures.
So selling players will be absolutely vital and that is an area City excel in. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were always going to attract substantial fees last summer, but they sold Ferran Torres to Barcelona the previous January and regularly cash in on academy graduates.
Last summer they sold Gavin Bazuni, Pedro Porro, Ko Itakura, Darko Gyabi, Romeo Lavia, Ari Muric, Samuel Edozie and Juan Larios for just under £60million. That more than covered the transfer fee paid to Borussia Dortmund for Erling Haaland.
Every summer City's balance sheet is littered with the sale of promising youngsters who will have good careers in the game without quite being good enough to force their way into Guardiola's plans. Liverpool have produced similar returns, such as selling Neco Williams to Nottingham Forest for £17million in 2022.
United are nowhere near that return. They have failed to maximise the potential for sales, especially within the academy. James Garner, Andreas Pereira and Tahith Chong brought in around £25million last summer, but that will need to be surpassed this time.
It seems unlikely Alex Telles and Eric Bailly will have their loan moves to Sevilla or Marseille made permanent. There are others who could be sold in the first team, such as Harry Maguire, Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial. Dean Henderson and Scott McTominay could attract decent fees.
At the younger age range, at least one of Anthony Elanga and Facundo Pellistri should be able to leave. The same applies to Matej Kovar and Nathan Bishop.
Drumming up a market for these players will be a major part of Murtough's job this summer. If he can get close to achieving what Begiristain does at the Etihad, then Ten Hag will be happy to share the limelight.
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