Ralf Rangnick repeatedly stressed Manchester United's rebuild could be completed in "two or three transfer windows" and they signed the minimum amount required in the summer.
"This is not rocket science. It has to be done and if that happens it does not necessarily need three or four years, maybe two or three transfer windows," Rangnick said in April. "Then the situation could be different."
The general consensus was United would need to offset six significant departures with six players and they eventually did that in a club-record window. £234.1million was invested in players, part-enforced by two dire defeats and a statement on behalf of Sir Jim Ratcliffe on August 17.
