June is on the horizon and the warmer the weather the more irritable the Manchester United supporter.
There is still no decision on the ownership, the Mason Greenwood process is nearing the five-month mark and this could be the second successive June they have not signed a player.
Football fans are not renowned for their patience during a transfer window and the approval ratings of United's deal brokers spike as wildly as a Boris Johnson lie detector graph.
It is aggravated by the activity of United's rivals. Liverpool have bought a World Cup winner in Alexis Mac Allister for a borderline frugal fee, Manchester City have replaced their Treble-winning leader before he has left with Mateo Kovacic and Declan Rice seems destined to take Lines Central and Piccadilly to Arsenal.
Also read: United have second bid for Mount rejected
Chelsea operated as though Ed Woodward was in the boardroom last season yet have a new figurehead in Christopher Nkunku and are offloading dead wood to Saudi Arabia.
That makes United's pursuit of Mason Mount ill-timed. Chelsea can sweat it out and hold out for a higher fee, so United are now stressing they will not overpay for Mount. We hear this often from United and they end up doing it almost every year.
Ajax went into last summer adamant Antony would not be sold for anything less than £60m. United agreed an £85.51m package. Casemiro's final fee could be £70m. As reasonably strong as United's negotiation position is, clubs will always chance their arm with them as they have form for yielding.
United give the impression that clubs are being unreasonable with their valuations. With Mount, there was always bound to be an impasse. Chelsea have a 24-year-old creator, a Champions League and Club World Cup winner, a veteran of three FA Cup finals and an England international who started the European Championship final with one World Cup under his belt.
Yet Mount is out of contract next June, wants out and has played 13 games in the last six months. United are bound to haggle, particularly as long as the parsimonious Glazer family has a row of six seats in the Old Trafford directors' box.
Unless United are operating discreetly, it is quizzical that they have made a beeline for Mount when their priorities are at either end of the pitch. They have excellent enough defenders to massage David de Gea's clean-sheet record and the more pressing need is a dependable goalscorer.
The season had not ended and United went cold on Harry Kane, discouraged by the noises coming out from Tottenham that they would not sell. It transpires alternative targets - Victor Osimhen, Rasmus Hojlund, Randal Kolo Muani - are similarly valued.
What did United expect? Hojlund and Muani, aged 20 and 24, are internationals playing in major European leagues and under contract until 2027. Osimhen, 24, is arguably the most valuable No.9 in world football after Napoli ended their 33-year title drought.
The average punter knew months ago the going rate for a new United No.9 would be around £100m. United sources claimed earlier in the year that money had been set aside for a centre forward but there would have to be an outgoing to accommodate a midfield incoming.
That should still be the case. Fred conceded his future was uncertain after the FA Cup final amid a proposal he is transferred to Fulham and Scott McTominay has admirers.
But a striker will define United's second season under Ten Hag. Cristiano Ronaldo abandoned the tenets of professionalism to save United £16m and there is no discernible need for a sale to finance the arrival of a new starting striker.
Some at United may need to jog their memory. It was six years ago that United agreed a £90m fee for Romelu Lukaku, who had a year remaining on his Everton contract. United did blindside Chelsea to turn Lukaku's head but there was an acceptance that an early 20s striker with big-five league clout would command a club record fee.
That was back when United's summer budget was capped at £150m and a month before the watershed transfers of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe to Paris Saint-Germain. Lukaku did not score or stick around long enough for his £15m add-ons to be triggered.
So United can tut all they like but they are their own worst enemies. Their last four striker signings were a freebie (Edinson Cavani), two loans (Odion Ighalo and Wout Weghorst) and Ronaldo. They have cut enough corners.
They have also never lived down paying £27.5m for Marouane Fellaini when his contract had a £23m release clause that expired a month earlier. That was 10 years ago now.
They did sign someone in June 2013, though: Guillermo Varela.
