Those in the Old Trafford directors' box have to head out earlier to secure their leather-padded seats. Any injured or cut Manchester United first-team squad member now occupies a seat in the back rows, now not vacant until full-time after nine players attempted to beat the traffic during the Rayo Vallecano friendly.
Sat adjacent to the press box on Sunday were Matej Kovar, Nathan Bishop, Brandon Williams, Axel Tuanzebe, Zidane Iqbal, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri and Anthony Martial. Also read: United have got their De Jong without paying €85m The United chief executive Richard Arnold caught up with the seldom-seen Tuanzebe, recovering from another injury.
Phil Jones was conspicuous by his near-permanent absence. Kovar and Bishop train with the first-team but cannot be considered senior squad members.
Neither have a realistic chance of ever playing for United regularly and loans with League One clubs fell through, despite the questionable addition of Martin Dubravka.