Erik ten Hag could make summer transfer decision when Manchester United take on Barcelona

No one is too bothered now but for a while in the summer things looked pretty bleak for Manchester United.

Fans were eager to leave the horrid times in the past and were willing to get fully on board with Erik ten Hag's revolution. But June ticked by without a single new addition to a squad that needed a drastic makeover. When the first signing, a reserve left-back, was finally made it hardly inspired confidence.

Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez were more like it but then the opening day of the season arrived and any lingering optimism was snuffed out. A loss to Brighton and then a 4-0 hammering by Brentford. All the promise of pre-season, all the progress, all the hope, left in ruins. As Ten Hag looked on powerless, it was already hard to see how he could possibly turn United around.

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Flash forward six months and that's exactly what he's done. Returning to basics, instilling discipline and restoring confidence are the three simplified steps the Dutchman has taken to get United moving well ahead of schedule but those two defeats were the best thing that could have happened.

The unrefutable evidence that the squad wasn't good enough gave United the impetus to go back into the transfer market and get some serious business done before the deadline. In came Antony and the true catalyst for change: Casemiro.

United had been crying out for a world-class defensive midfielder for years and in Casemiro they somehow managed to snag one of, if not the, best in the world. Everyone knew how exceptional he was at winning possession and smartly using the ball to get his team up the pitch but he has surprised with how much more there