Manchester United have followed Gary Neville's advice with unfashionable signing

Mason Mount has always, seemingly, been that guy for club and country.

No matter what they do or bring to the team, there are some players who are destined to be unfashionable with, certainly, those who only have a passing interest. For a long while themselves, United might have wondered what all the fuss was about at Chelsea for a homegrown chap deemed good enough to win 36 international caps.

Well they are about to find out. That after what has been a slow start to life in red for the player.

Among the countless jobs on his to-do list when he became United manager, Erik ten Hag needed to improve the engine room at his disposal. Despite being publicly side-stepped by Frenkie de Jong - his former Ajax protégé - the Dutchman has well and truly done that with three shrewd acquisitions inside 12 months.

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With all due respect, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Mount represent a notable upgrade on 'McFred' - the at times unkind nickname given to Scott McTominay and Fred amid their struggles in holding down the fort against the very top teams. The improvement in that position is all the more impressive, still, when you scratch beneath the surface.

Simultaneous to their attempts to bolster the United midfield, Ten Hag and key figures behind the scenes watched Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League alone deliver high-profile deals in that particular area. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have laid serious foundations for life after Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos by signing not one, or two, but three of the