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.
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Rangnick often cited Liverpool's reinvention under Jurgen Klopp as the benchmark for United and their most significant signing, Virgil van Dijk, arrived in January. Rangnick was such a compelling conversationalist he was never asked to clarify if he meant summer and winter windows.
There is no reason to speculate as to any business United might be open to doing in the new year when they have spent so extravagantly without a single sale from last season's squad. The €6m fee they are due for Eric Bailly is derisory and far from guaranteed as the fragile defender has to play a certain number of games on loan for Marseille.
Next season, the central defensive department should be leaner, with Phil Jones due to be released and Axel Tuanzebe far from certain of having his contract extended. If Bailly is gone for good, that is three off the books and four centre-backs in Erik ten Hag's core squad.
The goalkeeping situation is as changeable as the weather. United have four contracted goalies who were Premier League No.1s three years ago and there is a chance each of them may not be at the club next season.
David de Gea is effectively on trial to adapt to Ten Hag's approach but Dean Henderson's skill set is more aligned with the United manager. Only Henderson has possibly burned his bridges with his parent club, aggrieved at his treatment last season.
The contracts of back-up 'keepers Tom Heaton and Martin Dubravka last until the summer, with options to retain both of them. With De Gea's limitations pronounced in United's defeats and a maximum expiry date of 2024 on his contract, United have to be scouting a potential long-term goalkeeper.
A right-back recruit next summer is likely. United's summer window was blemished by their failure to offload Aaron Wan-Bissaka, given such advance notice he was surplus last season had still not ended, and he has started none of Ten Hag's 13 friendly and competitive fixtures.
There has been more top-spin applied than at Flushing Meadows with Wan-Bissaka, depicted as a valuable squad member at United when the truth is they are left with an unsellable asset Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked to wash his hands of a year ago. Atletico Madrid demanded too much for Kieran Trippier.
Ethan Laird is highly rated by coaches at United and has started auspiciously at Queens Park Rangers. Should he enjoy as productive a season in the second tier as James Garner did with Nottingham Forest then a Premier League promotion is inevitable, with Ten Hag to decide if it is at United or elsewhere.
Alex Telles is only on loan at Sevilla and there is mounting uncertainty over coach Julen Lopetegui's future. Luke Shaw's contract is due to be extended at United until 2024 but his future beyond then largely hinges on how he fares this season, with Tyrell Malacia already a more credible competitor than the tone-deaf Telles.
United were always open to recruiting two central midfielders, with the move for Adrien Rabiot viewed as a supplement to Casemiro or Frenkie de Jong as he only commanded an up-front fee of £15m. There could be more movement in a midfield that will have three 30-somethings at the start of next season.
Whether a starter or a substitute, Cristiano Ronaldo will leave a void, and unless United are in the Champions League next season he will not agree to have his contract extended by a year. A lifetime's worth of events can occur over the next eight months but United will need a goalscorer next season.
The majority of the forwards are under long-term contracts, bar Marcus Rashford, committed to staying despite his brother's ill-advised dalliance with Paris Saint-Germain last month.
Rashford is tied to United until 2024 at the latest and it would be remiss of United to hastily arrange new contracts when a more prolonged run of form is a better gauge of a player's worth.
It's not rocket science.
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