.jpeg?trim=0,0,0,0&crop=&width=640&quality=70&enable=upscale)
But, as Rayan Cherki joins Manchester City for £34m, Manchester United supporters can be forgiven for feeling a touch envious, as the French maestro was on their wishlist as long ago as 2019, when he was a raw 15-year-old.
And Cherki is not the only top European talent who was not pinned down to sign for the Old Trafford side.
Then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was an outspoken advocate of adding youth to his teams - and explicitly singled out Cherki as a prospect for the future. Having managed Erling Haaland at Molde, where he cut his managerial teeth, he also knew that striker would go on to be a generational talent. Again, United missed out.
Here’s a very decent first 11 - also including England talisman Jude Bellingham - of players that United were linked to in the Solskjaer era. It may be a bit short of width, but there’s talent running through every position. United fans are entitled to look at the line-up and think: “What if.....”
5. Alphonso Davies - LB
United were repeatedly recommended Davies when he was a teenager in Canada, both before and after Solskjaer took the helm. The Canadian could have been picked up for less thna £2m at the start of his career - now he is a star at Bayern Munich. United fans will look at the problem left-back berth and sigh... | Getty Images
6. Aurélien Tchouaméni - CM
Aurélien Tchouaméni was tracked at Monaco but during the summer of 2021 Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo were signed instead. He went to Real Madrid and would feature in all seven of France's games at the Qatar World Cup, as well as scoring a worldie against England Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
7. Moisés Caicedo - CM
United were sniffing around when he was at Independiente del Valle in Ecuador, and entered negotiations but were put off by agent complications and lack of urgency. Caicedo would join Brighton instead in early 2021, and would go on to make a £115m move to Chelsea | Getty Images
8. Declan Rice - CM
United were heavily linked with Rice in 2020 and 2021, while he was at West Ham, but were deterred by the price tag of over £80m. He'd go on to become Arsenal's backbone. | Getty Images