Manchester United must know how much a new No.9 will cost after their last negotiation

June is on the horizon and the warmer the weather the more irritable the Manchester United supporter.

There is still no decision on the ownership, the Mason Greenwood process is nearing the five-month mark and this could be the second successive June they have not signed a player.

Football fans are not renowned for their patience during a transfer window and the approval ratings of United's deal brokers spike as wildly as a Boris Johnson lie detector graph.

It is aggravated by the activity of United's rivals. Liverpool have bought a World Cup winner in Alexis Mac Allister for a borderline frugal fee, Manchester City have replaced their Treble-winning leader before he has left with Mateo Kovacic and Declan Rice seems destined to take Lines Central and Piccadilly to Arsenal.

Also read: United have second bid for Mount rejected

Chelsea operated as though Ed Woodward was in the boardroom last season yet have a new figurehead in Christopher Nkunku and are offloading dead wood to Saudi Arabia.

That makes United's pursuit of Mason Mount ill-timed. Chelsea can sweat it out and hold out for a higher fee, so United are now stressing they will not overpay for Mount. We hear this often from United and they end up doing it almost every year.

Ajax went into last summer adamant Antony would not be sold for anything less than £60m. United agreed an £85.51m package. Casemiro's final fee could be £70m. As reasonably strong as United's negotiation position is, clubs will always chance their arm with them as they have form for yielding.

United give the impression that clubs are being unreasonable with their valuations. With Mount, there was always bound to be an impasse. Chelsea have a 24-year-old creator, a Champions League and Club