When Donny van de Beek first settled in Manchester during the Covid-19 pandemic, he was holed up in a house owned by United that was quickly dubbed 'Covid Towers'. Like Rapunzel, Van de Beek's talent is perhaps trapped in that tower.
A reunion with Erik ten Hag nor an undeserved three-match run in November have jolted Van de Beek, his form in Ajax's captivating Champions League semi-finalists as distant as it is moot.
Van de Beek is not necessarily second in the pecking order for the No.10 behind the tireless Bruno Fernandes, either. Mason Mount is proven that role and has cut it in the Premier League. Van de Beek didn't for Everton, never mind United.
In the mudbath of the Optus Stadium in Perth last year, Van de Beek looked like someone who had turned up at Glastonbury but was expecting the opera of Glyndebourne. He did not play the same tune as his teammates in a pre-season draw with Aston Villa.
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Van de Beek's stock is so low he is practically unsellable. Injured since January 3, he has managed four meaningful Premier League starts in three years with United and no right-minded Premier League club would touch Van de Beek with a bargepole.
Ajax owe United one for fleecing them of £140million for Lisandro Martinez and Antony. An Ajax homecoming would be logical for Van de Beek as a professional and lifestyle choice. Van de Beek has spent almost two years in exile from the Netherlands national side and there is another European Championship next year. He missed the last one through injury and has not been named in a squad since.
The difficulties United will encounter in shifting players is nothing new but they did once purge their squad successfully in one summer. The 2007 transfer window remains United's best not just for incomings but outgoings.
United agreed deals to sign Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves before June and, as protracted and complex as the discussions for Carlos Tevez were, he was on board for the start of the Premier League season.
The outgoings were, in retrospect, almost as impressive: United banked £27.2m for Gabriel Heinze, Alan Smith, Giuseppe Rossi and Kieran Richardson.
Heinze was about as welcome at Old Trafford as a Liverpool supporter after he took United to court to force through a transfer to Anfield and failed. Phil Chisnall remains the niche pub quiz answer as the last player to move between the clubs as Heinze ended up at Real Madrid.
Beyond his treachery, Heinze was the fall-guy for the Champions League semi-final thrashing by AC Milan and he was a more gettable defender after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in September 2005. Smith, too, was a shadow of the combatant after he suffered a broken leg and a dislocated ankle in February 2006.
Even before then, Sir Alex Ferguson had attempted to reinvent Smith as a midfielder. "What's he doing there?" Roy Keane queried in his excoriating and unaired analysis of the 4-1 thumping by Middlesbrough in 2005.
Newcastle bought Smith for £7m three years after United parted with the same fee. Sam Allardyce, Ferguson's friend, had just taken over.
Kieran Richardson was so unpopular with United matchgoers some booed his entrance in the 2007 FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park and Ferguson admitted that had a bearing on his departure for Sunderland. Giuseppe Rossi, briefly viewed as worthy of replacing Ruud van Nistelrooy, was transferred to Villarreal.
Rossi had the cachet of United academy graduate status and impressed on loan at Parma, Richardson and Smith played enough games to be eligible for Premier League winner's medals while Heinze was an Argentina regular with two years remaining on his contract. United have discovered it is far easier to refresh their squad with the Premier League trophy encased in the Old Trafford museum.
The United squad in 2007-08 is their best and one of their most successful; champions of England, champions of Europe (and then the world). Ferguson got through the season without a specialist right-back, with Gary Neville unable to overcome an ankle injury. Wes Brown was a solid alternative and slickly assisted Cristiano Ronaldo's opener in the Champions League final.
Ji-sung Park, a predicted starter in Moscow, stayed in his suit. His transition from the Netherlands to England was very different from Van de Beek's.
