If everything had gone according to plan, Manchester United wouldn't have signed a left-back in the summer transfer window.
Yet this weekend, they might need to rely on their deadline-day signing of one as they look to lift their spirits with a win at home to Brighton.
Alarm bells should always be ringing whenever a club is active on the final day of the transfer window, never mind when they end up signing four players like United did.
However, of all those late arrivals, Sergio Reguilon was perhaps the least alarming, given the mitigating circumstances that saw him arrive on loan from Tottenham.
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With first-choice full-back Luke Shaw sidelined through injury and Tyrell Malacia also out of action, United set off in a frantic search for reinforcement that ended with the arrival of Reguilon.
United switched their attention to Reguilon after abandoning a move for Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella, having insisted on the option of a break clause to terminate the loan in January.
There is no option for the deal to be made permanent next summer, and United are covering Reguilon's salary of around £120,000-a-week as part of a loan that suits their short-term needs.
Casemiro and Raphael Varane have already taken steps to help the Spaniard settle at his new club, and he will be itching to prove his doubters wrong when he finally gets a chance.
If Shaw and Malacia both return from their respective injuries on time, there is a good chance Reguilon will leave the club midway through his loan, though that could change if he manages to impress.
Time isn't on his side, though. The 26-year-old was an unused substitute for his first match against Arsenal, and he might already
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