Manchester United's next manager already has four positives to build on

Following the captures of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, Manchester United supporters had reasons to be optimistic ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

The club had added three world-class players to the squad, addressing areas that needed strengthening, and it appeared as though they had everything that they needed to launch a Premier League title charge and restock the Old Trafford trophy cabinet. Instead, they face the reality of ending a fifth successive season without a trophy and the possibility of missing out on Champions League football for next season.

To describe this season as a calamity would not be too far from the truth. United have, once again, underachieved and it means the size of the challenge awaiting their next permanent manager is an enormous one.

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Not only will he, whoever it proves to be, be tasked with trying to install a brand new philosophy, he will also have to oversee huge changes to the first-team squad, with several players in need of being moved and new additions being made. But it is not all bad.

Amongst all the doom and gloom that this season has attracted, there have been rays of light that have brought smiles to faces and raised expectation levels for next season and beyond. That is because United, through decision-making and sheer hard work from certain individuals, have discovered that the future of the club has potential, determination and talent in abundance.

From Anthony Elanga's four-month journey from being out in the wilderness to earning his first Sweden call-up, to the club's Under-18s reaching the FA Youth Cup final for the first time since 2012, the club's youth and