Manchester United might be letting Erik ten Hag do what Pep Guardiola did

Have you heard the one about the Scotsman, the Portuguese, the Norwegian and the two Dutchmen? It is not a snappy punchline or particularly funny if you're of a Manchester United persuasion.

The aforementioned quintet of managers signed players over a 12-year period and they were assembled in the same squad for the club's biggest FA Cup final in a generation.

United's opponents 17 days ago? Only one City player was not recruited during Pep Guardiola's seven-year reign (Kevin de Bruyne).

"They slowly got rid of the players not of the complete mentality," Arsene Wenger said on the eve of the Champions League final.

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In a summer where United pussyfoot over a busted flush of a goalkeeper, it is worth recalling that six years ago City's quartet of full-backs all left. Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta and Gael Clichy were released and Aleksandar Kolarov was sold.

Guardiola quickly undermined Sergio Aguero with the purchase of Gabriel Jesus and he coveted Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. Yaya Toure clung on for two years under Guardiola but was reduced to the minorest of support roles.

Phil Jones will only become a former United player next week when his contract is finally shredded, at least four years later than it should have been. Eric Bailly's deal has a maximum expiry date of 2025, so he could survive five British prime ministers. Alex Telles is due to report at Carrington next month and Donny van de Beek has already spent three seasons in Manchester.

The deliberation by the Glazers is matched in M16. United sources said in early February they expected their review into Mason Greenwood to be concluded in weeks rather than months. It has been a third of a year since United