As Ralf Rangnick explained how he thinks Manchester United should operate in the transfer market, he was only half-right when he identified the improvements that need to be made.
Rangnick will split his time between coaching Austria and advising United once his underwhelming stint as interim manager comes to an end, but there remains the sense that eventually, as Erik ten Hag gets his feet under the table and establishes a working relationship with John Murtough, Rangnick's phone will simply stop ringing.
But as he finally put some meat on the bones of his two-year consultancy role, he revealed the focus would primarily be on recruitment.
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There's a - mostly accurate - perception that United's recruitment has been disastrous in recent years, but the window they produced last summer is actually one of their best of recent years. They signed three players ready to hit the ground running and Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo have been three of the better performers this season.
Varane and Ronaldo were already superstars when they signed from Real Madrid and Juventus and at £73million Sancho was hardly flying under the radar. With a little more structure from an elite coach, that trio should all improve United as a team.
Rangnick's focus has always been on the stars of tomorrow, rather than today, however, and that is an approach he has urged United to take.
"For me, the most important bit is recruitment now," Rangnick said. "This is, for me, the most vital point, that we bring in the best possible players and speak about that, who could that be.
"My personal opinion is the club should try to find future top star players and develop them. It is not only identifying those players but meeting them, convincing them to join the club even though we will not be playing in the Champions League, so this is what I see as the most important bit."
Rangnick had been asked whether the best players in the world still wanted to represent United and when he told his inquisitor to name an example, he picked Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker will leave Borussia Dortmund this summer and looks set to sign for Manchester City, but to Rangnick he's an example of a young player United should be after.
"Haaland is a young player, he is 21 or 22, this is one of those players I spoke about. But, on the other hand, he has developed into one of the most expensive strikers in the world.
"He could be one of those examples where I think the focus should be on to try and identify and find and then convince players who could be Manchester United players for the next couple of years."
The only problem with that analysis is that this is what United tried to do. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer met Haaland personally in December 2019 when trying to sign his countryman from Red Bull Salzburg.
The personal touch didn't work, Haaland and his camp felt Borussia Dortmund were better for his development and after 82 goals in 86 games it's hard to disagree with that assessment, especially if a move to the Etihad materialises this summer.
United tried the same approach with Jude Bellingham. The then 16-year-old midfielder and his family were shown around Carrington in March 2020 and Sir Alex Ferguson was part of the welcoming committee.
But once again Bellingham and his advisers felt Old Trafford wasn't the best place to develop. He chose Dortmund as well and at 18 he's now started 48 games in the Bundesliga and 14 in the Champions League.
Signing Bellingham and Haaland would clearly have improved United, both short-term and long-term, but it should be alarming that two generational talents felt that a move to Old Trafford wasn't the next step in their career.
It's hard to imagine that would have been the case a decade ago, but United's reputation as a hot-house for youth talents has vanished. Instead, they've earned notoriety for being a club without a plan, where careers are going to wilt rather than flourish.
If United are to follow Rangnick's blueprint and continue pursuing talents like Bellingham and Haaland, they have to alter opinion and under Ten Hag that can only be a gradual process.
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