A summer to remember for Manchester United

I’ve been married, I understand the need to be patient in waiting to get what you really want.

So while many flapped in the early stages of the summer, panicking that Liverpool were adding further embodiments of what it is to show great character, Arsenal were papering over a crack that’s been in their squad since Seaman left & Chelsea signing what’ll no doubt be a 25 goal a season Falcao for next season, I remained calm.

Depay was the key deal to tie up, and he was a red 6 weeks before the window was even open for him to be welcomed into the bosom of his footballing family, so while it was only one signing, it was a c;ear indication of 2 things.

1/ When Louis has identified the player he truly wants, he tells the club.

2/ Once the club have been informed, Ed goes about doing what he does with an ever increasing level of awesome and he gets that business done!

So I took that knowledge and belief and decided to sit back and let the window happen, stay away from click bait transfer rumours, avoided social media for days on end while people attacked ITK gossip as pirhana’s did drunk students in Kelly Brook’s disatarous cinematic debut, and remained calm believing that things would start to happen once Louis had settled on who he wanted for which roles to strengthen the club for the coming season.

Darmain was the first signing to be made after the window offically opened, it reinforced my theory that Louis was looking at where the holes in the squad were and identifying players that he belives have the technical ability and mental awareness to play the game within the laws set in his philosophy, while it wasn’t of a player I knew anything about, it was a sign that he’d addressed the gaping hole on that side and he’d brought in a man who could fill it.

Let’s see what happens next now the transfer machine is clearly cranking into gear ahead of setting off on the US tour, there’d been the Schweinsteiger rumours, but they were pure fantasy, the odds on the most German man who’ll ever live leaving the most German club there’ll ever be to play for United are longer than my ex’s memory of my supposed crimes against her, but none the less, the rumour kept surfacing, then there was THE Saturday afternoon, the one where first Bayern confirmed it, then the man himself, then United, it was unreal, not just a midfield engine was being added to the squad, but again, this is important enough to hit capslock, THE midfield engine of a generation was joining United, the joy at this came in more levels than an NCP car park! This man doesnt just deliver great things on an individual level, he carries himself in a way that gets that extra 10% out of all those around him, not since the days of Robson & Keane have we had that in our midfield locker.

When the one and only Mr Norwood then broke the news on the Sunday night that Morgan was coming and that the Schmidfield dream team was no longer a dream, but a reality, I’ll be honest, despite being a man 0f 36 years and a frown repertoire that’s the envy of many a teenage goth, I happied like a knobhead, everything that was wrong with the squad was being fixed and addressed (well not everything, but a huge chunk of it), all our midfield deficiencies that left us exposed in the worst performances of last season had been addressed, yes you can argue the need for a top quality centre half is stromg, but that need is lessened by having a midfield infront of it capable of withstanding opposition pressure and allowing us to break at speed as we did in the old glory days.

Add to this the clinical way that Louis has gone about culling the weak links, Cleverley shown the door, Nani & Van Persie shipped out to a league that will tolerate them for a year or 2 before they vanish off to the MLS for their final paydays, and the imminent departure of Jonny Evans and it’s clear our reasons to count this summer as a MASSIVE win are not just based on who’s come in, but who’s gone out.

At times in their United careers each of the 3 has looked the part, like they’re a genuine rock on which we can build years of future success (apart from Cleverley), but not one of them ever sustained that form for more than 20 games in any stage of their time as a red, for that reason it’s of significant benefit to our hopes for this and future seasons that they’ve all been or are about to be shipped out.

None of this joyous news guarantees success next season, or in any of the seasons after it, but what it does is give us a firm hope that it’s on the horizon, and for all the talk about forwards & centre halfs, the most important thing you can add to a squad is the belief that it’s good enough to succeed, and the work done by Louis and Ed so far this summer has certainly given me plenty of that.

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