Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided Manchester United with a vision of the future – now Ed Woodward must provide him with the tools to realise it.
There will be no hiding place for the club’s under pressure executive vice chairman if Solskjaer is forced to enter his first full season in charge short-handed.
Securing the signing of Harry Maguire is a must – and it’s remarkable a breakthrough hasn’t been reached for the Leicester City centre back before now.
Man Utd also need at least one body in midfield and a solution to the right wing problem that plagued Jose Mourinho.
Modern-day transfers are complicated and convoluted, but the time it took Woodward and chief negotiator Matt Judge to complete deals for Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, plus a perplexing ‘one-by-one’ approach to signings, has left Solskjaer with less than two weeks until the deadline with his squad far from in place.
He is not Mourinho and United’s hierarchy have been spared any public shows of dissent from their manager, even if it is impossible to imagine he is anything other than frustrated by the slow progress when it comes to recruitment – particularly after he and assistant Mike Phelan laid out their transfer needs in a summit with Woodward less than 24 hours after their derby humbling to Manchester City in May.
That 2-0 defeat reaffirmed the gulf between the red and blue halves of Manchester, though some of Solskjaer’s coaching staff tried to lift his spirits by assuring him United had made a better fist of containing Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side than in recent times.
In truth, the Norwegian is not about containment, as Mourinho increasingly was. Nor possession for possession’s sake, like Louis van Gaal.
Under him, United are expected to be the aggressors, setting the tone and forcing the opposition to retreat in a manner that simply hasn’t been seen since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
His 4-2-3-1 formation is one that Ferguson dabbled with in his final years in the job, without ever being satisfied with the results.
Solskjaer has revisited it and a new identity is beginning to take shape.
What is effectively a front four, is full of pace and energy.
Moussa Sissoko’s hatchet job on James in Thursday’s game in Shanghai was a testament to the panic the Wales winger causes when running at defences.
Mason Greenwood could well be the surprise package of the season – beautifully balanced, fast and lethal in front of goal.
Solskjaer believes he can finally untap Anthony Martial’s potential on a consistent basis by playing him as an orthodox No9.
Don’t be surprised if he retrieves that shirt – which was taken from him by Mourinho - in time for the start of the season, so long as United can offload Romelu Lukaku.
And the decision to play the France forward through the centre will certainly please co-owner Joel Glazer, who privately considers him as Old Trafford’s answer to Pele.
Marcus Rashford looks set to start on the left of attack and the hope is he can develop in the manner of Raheem Sterling over the past two years.
Solskjaer still doesn’t know if Paul Pogba will be at the club come the start of the season – even at this late stage of the window. But he believes that by reprising the £89m midfielder’s deep-lying World Cup role for France, he will finally get the best out of him, with Scott McTominay in line to be his regular partner.
Both are strong, tall and energetic, with a full range of passing and capable of driving box to box. They will be perfect to drop back and receive possession from two ball-playing centre backs Solskjaer hopes to have in place.
Maguire is pivotal to his plans in that sense – although not the only option, with a move for Kalidou Koulibaly not yet ruled out.
Matthijs de Ligt was also seen as an ideal option – but Maguire is the player Solskjaer has set his heart on and serious questions will be asked of the club’s hierarchy if they fail to deliver a player who is widely known to be for sale this summer, if at a vastly-inflated price-tag of £90m.
Comparisons can be drawn with Liverpool’s pursuit of Virgil van Dijk.
The Holland international was the one and only choice for Jurgen Klopp – and ultimately cost £15m more than what was already considered an over the top valuation of £60m when he eventually moved from Southampton to Anfield.
He has had a transformative effect on Liverpool and senior figures at United enviously look on that deal as a bargain.
While Maguire has much improvement to make before he can be considered in the same class as Van Dijk, he is pivotal to Solskjaer’s plans as a defender who can carry the ball out from the back, alongside Victor Lindelof.
Likewise, the United manager needs a high calibre right-sided forward, despite the impression made by Greenwood, who at 17, will be eased into the first team.
James, too, will be given time to establish himself and looks more comfortable on the left than the right.
Jadon Sancho was seen as the man to take up that role – and while there is an argument to wait 12 months and try again for the Borussia Dortmund winger, Solskjaer must question whether he can gamble on such long-term thinking at a club that is on its fourth manager in six years.
United have put their faith in the Treble-winning hero to restore the traditions of the club.
There was no sense of panic after their dramatic collapse at the end of last season saw them win just one of nine games and miss out on Champions League qualification.
They accepted his explanation that the players just weren’t fit enough to maintain the high-pressing game he is intent on implementing.
Pre-season has been old school in the sense of how hard he’s worked them – hi-tech in the manner in which data is measured to ensure they get off to a flying start to the campaign and can maintain their energy levels throughout.
Only so much can be drawn from pre-season games, but four straight wins – particularly victories against Inter Milan and Tottenham – can only be considered encouraging.
And winning becomes a habit.
More important has been a defined shape, system and style of play.
Solskjaer is finding solutions by bringing through youth and working with what he inherited.
He won’t rock the boat and from a club perspective is saying all the right things.
He could hardly have done more to give United the best chance of bouncing into the new season.
Now the people above him must follow suit.
