Have you heard the one about the Scotsman, the Portuguese, the Norwegian and the two Dutchmen? It is not a snappy punchline or particularly funny if you're of a Manchester United persuasion.
The aforementioned quintet of managers signed players over a 12-year period and they were assembled in the same squad for the club's biggest FA Cup final in a generation.
United's opponents 17 days ago? Only one City player was not recruited during Pep Guardiola's seven-year reign (Kevin de Bruyne).
"They slowly got rid of the players not of the complete mentality," Arsene Wenger said on the eve of the Champions League final.
Exclusive: United want to sign a new No.1 this summer
In a summer where United pussyfoot over a busted flush of a goalkeeper, it is worth recalling that six years ago City's quartet of full-backs all left. Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta and Gael Clichy were released and Aleksandar Kolarov was sold.
Guardiola quickly undermined Sergio Aguero with the purchase of Gabriel Jesus and he coveted Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. Yaya Toure clung on for two years under Guardiola but was reduced to the minorest of support roles.
Phil Jones will only become a former United player next week when his contract is finally shredded, at least four years later than it should have been. Eric Bailly's deal has a maximum expiry date of 2025, so he could survive five British prime ministers. Alex Telles is due to report at Carrington next month and Donny van de Beek has already spent three seasons in Manchester.
The deliberation by the Glazers is matched in M16. United sources said in early February they expected their review into Mason Greenwood to be concluded in weeks rather than months. It has been a third of a year since United announced their own 'process' on February 2.
Even when a glut of players were released last year, it was hardly ruthlessness from United. Inexplicably, they attempted to tie down Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard on longer contracts while the communications department erroneously communicated the expiry date of Nemanja Matic's deal. He bade farewell a year earlier than scheduled.
Erik ten Hag has downplayed the need for United to recruit in his image though the transfer activity has been telling. Antony and Lisandro Martinez played under Ten Hag at Ajax, Christian Eriksen briefly trained with Ajax, Wout Weghorst is a fellow 'Tukker' from Twente and Tyrell Malacia is another Netherlands international.
Nationality is moot compared with mentality. There was not a United player Ten Hag spoke more effusively about than Casemiro throughout last season and the club's recruitment hit rate has improved with an emphasis placed on character as much as quality.
It should reassure supporters United are now in the market for a No.1 goalkeeper, as opposed to a competitor for David de Gea's shirt. De Gea's contract may not be renewed now and, gradually, United have come to realise it is counter-productive to retain a 'keeper who has metaphorically and literally stood still.
At Wembley, Ten Hag removed his scarlet Paul Smith tie prior to kick-off but put it back on for his post-match media duties. His goalkeeper had tied himself up in knots and it was apposite the final question in the vast university lecture theatre of a press conference room centred on De Gea's distribution.
"Say it like this: we are in the right direction," Ten Hag said. "But there are occasions in the game, issues in the game, we have to improve, definitely, if we want to make the next step and win trophies."
De Gea is such a pressing issue his 'keeping cost United in both cup games they lost. In Seville, all three goals exposed his limitations - kicking, set-pieces and sweeping - while against City he was as flat-footed as Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.
Going back to that summer of 2017, Guardiola conceded he had erred in handpicking Claudi Bravo to replace Joe Hart. 'Bravo to zero' was a monthly headline during the jittery Chilean's sole season as City No.1 and he was replaced by Ederson.
City have always been prone to paranoia and certain figures fretted over the magnitude of their fees that summer. Kyle Walker's arrival marked a world record fee for a full-back and Ederson did for a 'keeper at £35million.
Ederson's transfer was concluded two months before Paris Saint-Germain's market-defining moves for Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. A year later, Liverpool paid £67m for Alisson and Chelsea trumped that with the £71m for Kepa Arrizabalaga.
United had shortlisted Ederson as a potential replacement for De Gea in 2017 had he completed what still seemed to be an inevitable switch to Real Madrid. Nobody would have advised that at the time. De Gea was a peerless 'keeper and he reclaimed the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award in 2017-18.
Yet that was his last truly world-class campaign and Ederson and Alisson have eclipsed him in the last five years. Still, the Scotsman, the Portuguese, the Norwegian and two Dutchmen got their money's worth.
