So what did £225million get Manchester United? That record-breaking summer transfer spend after Erik ten Hag's arrival has delivered a trophy, another cup final and a return to the Champions League. It's resulted in a major step forward for this side.
But it also left United 14 points behind champions Manchester City, who certainly left some points out there after winning the league. The scoreline in the FA Cup final at Wembley was close, but there was clearly a gulf in class.
This is the standard United are now chasing. They've certainly done well in Ten Hag's first season and that transfer window was a success. They signed five players on permanent deals and all have made the required impact.
That just exposes both how far this side had fallen and how hard it is to build a squad capable of going toe-to-toe with what Pep Guardiola has built across the city. United couldn't have asked for much more from their transfer window and had an academy graduate score 30 goals, but they remain miles behind City.
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Not only is more investment in the squad required, but United can't afford a misstep in the transfer market either. They are chasing the closest to perfection the Premier League has seen and a club that hasn't made a mistake of their own regarding recruitment in a long time.
The jury is maybe still out on Kalvin Phillips, but you probably have to go back to 2017 and the arrival of Benjamin Mendy for the last time City signed a first-team player who didn't add value to the squad. In that time there have been plenty of duds arrive at Old Trafford.
Maybe that trend is changing now, but it needs to continue. Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martnez, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Antony all look like good signings, even if Malacia's role has been that of back-up and Antony must take a step forward next term.
Over at the Etihad, it has been noticeable how often Guardiola has been praising director of football Txiki Begiristain over the last couple of months for assembling the squad that stands on the brink of the treble. United's football director John Murtough needs to deliver the same kind of transfer successes to Ten Hag to build a squad capable of challenging City.
For all of United's successes last summer, there are obvious areas for improvement still. The priority this summer is a striker and a progressive midfielder, with Harry Kane and Mason Mount top of the list.
Eriksen was a shrewd free transfer last summer, but his influence has waned as the season has gone on and made the acquisition of a younger central midfielder to provide more competition a priority.
Another central defender could also be on the agenda, especially if Harry Maguire is sold and a goalkeeper will also be pursued, with Dean Henderson set to leave as long as David de Gea signs his new contract. Ten Hag wants a goalkeeper who can challenge the Spaniard.
There is also a desire to add another young forward and a right-back, but the scale of the rebuild still required can't be completed this summer, especially when United have to sell to raise additional funds.
That is at least two summer transfer windows of recruitment and if that is to end with Ten Hag having a squad he sees as capable of challenging for the title then United can't afford to put a foot wrong, starting this summer.
If United can't do a deal with Tottenham for Kane, then the risk level goes up as they move down the list of alternative targets. The England captain is a guarantee of goals in the Premier League and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is close to that as well.
But if United end up looking at Randal Kolo Muani and Rasmus Hojlund, then those deals come with a greater level of risk. The recruitment team has to get the call right.
That will be the case for every major deal now. The FA Cup final showed how far United still have to travel and the gulf only grew as you looked down the list of substitutes. To bridge that gap United must keep producing perfect transfer windows.
A Manchester Evening News special souvenir edition - Fergie's First - charts United's 1992/93 title-winning campaign and you can get your hands on one here
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