On we go. Manchester United took a big step towards securing Champions League football with a narrow win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
Bruno Fernandes' winner moved United seven points clear of fifth heading into the final month of the season and it's becoming increasingly difficult to see a scenario where they don't finish in the top four.
That will bring Champions League football back to Old Trafford and all the glitz and glamour that comes with it. And that in turn will help United in their summer transfer search as Erik ten Hag seeks a midfield general and a centre forward to try and help close the gap on England and Europe's best.
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On the pitch, there are clear signs of progression with a trophy in the cabinet and a Wembley showdown with Manchester City in the FA Cup final in June to look forward to. At times this season, United have looked like a team with a plan, despite some worryingly abject away performances. Ten Hag is the right man to move things forward but, in a story synonymous with much of the past two decades, the Glazer family have their hands on the brake.
Sunday's Old Trafford protest thrust the protracted takeover back into the forefront of the wider football public but it's long been front and centre for United supporters. Friday saw the third deadline for bids and the two frontunners, Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe - who have been heading the queue for months now - remain stood at the till. They've submitted offers and re-submitted offers.
The dance has continued, the slowest of slow dances with an element of posturing as all sides play poker. The Glazers are understood to be seeking £6billion, a pie-in-the-sky figure. For six months we have moved from offer to offer, rumour to rumour and essentially gone nowhere.
The third bids should prompt some decision-making. There could yet be another deadline, we could even end up in a scenario where the Glazers stay put. We could have a winning bidder in the coming days.
Could. It's a word that covers all bases and as such produces no definitives. The 1958 – a United fan group - led a protest ahead of the weekend win over Villa. Supporters gathered in the city centre and marched to Old Trafford displaying a giant banner reading ‘Full $ale Only’.
Talk of an 18-minute match boycott - to represent the 18 years the Glazer family have been in control since their leveraged takeover - was mooted. Smoke from the flares outside permeated Old Trafford ahead of kick-off.
There will be some wondering whether this whole process might just be smoke and mirrors.
For United's on-pitch success to build, it needs off-pitch clarity. We have anything but at the moment. On we go.
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