Louis van Gaal's claim that future Manchester United managers would benefit from the signing of Anthony Martial looks laughable as the Frenchman is set to leave the club this summer.
The Dutchman bought the forward from Monaco in 2015 but it's a move that hasn't quite gone according to plan as Erik ten Hag looks to get rid of him in the upcoming window.
Van Gaal admitted at the time that £36million was a "ridiculous amount of money" for United to shell out for Martial, but the club were looking ahead to the future insisting it will be his successors that will profit from the signing.
Martial's time at United is not exactly what the club envisioned, however. He showed flashes during his first couple of years at United but he has not lived up to his potential under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and doesn't appear to be a part of Ten Hag's plans.
Speaking to an audience of executive United season ticket holders at Lancashire County Cricket ground in September 2015, Van Gaal said: "It was a ridiculous amount of money (for Martial), but it's the crazy world we are in.
"United are routinely quoted £10m more for a player but I have not bought Martial for me. I have bought him for the next manager of Manchester United."
Martial's career arc at United has arguably gone in the other direction. The forward played some of his best football under Van Gaal during his early days at Old Trafford but hasn't been able to kick on as most expected. Inconsistent is the word that best describes his spell under Mourinho, but his performances under Solskjaer rapidly deteriorated.
Martial publicly expressed his desire to leave United in January before sealing a loan move to Sevilla where he has been unable to score in eight appearances. The 26-year-old is set to return to Old Trafford in the summer but Ten Hag is planning a major clearout and he seems to be one of the unsettled players in the shop window.
Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Lee Grant are all set to leave as free agents while at least six other players including Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Alex Telles, Marcus Rashford, and Martial – could join them to allow Ten Hag to begin his overhaul with Ralf Rangnick suggesting there will be as many as ten new arrivals.
Mirror Football exclusively revealed that Ten Hag will have a £200million budget to operate with this summer with Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Darwin Nunez, Ruben Neves, Jurrien Timber and Antony among his targets.
Rangnick has been left shocked by the poor standard of scouting and recruitment at United since his arrival in November. Prior to the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool, the German coach explained how life is different in the Bundesliga.
"In Germany, we have a head coach and then there is usually a minimum of two skilled people continuously in the club on a longer-term basis responsible for recruitment, scouting and any daily operation," he said last week.
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"They also bring in the right and best possible head coach for the team. This still hasn't got a big tradition here and so the job of a sporting director or director of football - only a few clubs have that.
"I know that for the future, and I think even more so for a big club like Manchester United, you can't put all those jobs and tasks and the whole responsibility only on the shoulder of one person - on the manager. I'm not sure if this can be dealt with by one person, no matter how good he is.
"I know Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea also have smart people who take care of recruitment, scouting, the medical department… I think this is also an issue for our club, where they have to pay attention to."
