Desperation breeds a desire for messiahs. And as time goes by and the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, a triumphant farewell at Old Trafford reaping his 13th league title, drifts further into the memory, so Manchester United’s scrabble for solutions becomes increasingly urgent.
With every new arrival, the hope has been that this will be the one: that José Mourinho would bring success because he had won things in the past; that Ole Gunnar Solskjær would do so through nostalgia; that Jadon Sancho would by his youthful promise; that Cristiano Ronaldo would by not eating dessert; that André Onana would because he can play out from the back.
