The Manchester United manager has seven players to build a formidable team around

A snippet from the tunnel cam footage at the FA Cup final appears to show Sir Jim Ratcliffe seeking an exit route that avoids the media assembled in the mixed zone.

There is a lot of background noise but Ratcliffe seems to gruffly mumble something about the "press". En route to the tunnel, he looked dismayed to be asked by a reporter whether Erik ten Hag would stay.

Ratcliffe nor Sir Dave Brailsford re-emerged after we saw them head towards the Manchester United dressing room. The Ineos Sport project manager, Josh Thompson, did as hardly anyone knows him from Adam. His departure coincided with Raphael Varane's.

A week later, Ratcliffe is still silent and still avoiding the pressing question. United's unwillingness to communicate their decision on the manager is taking so long calendars have turned over to June.

READ MORE: Ratcliffe has key questions to answer whether Ten Hag stays or goes

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More is lost by indecision than a wrong decision, Tony Soprano said. United are already behind the curve approaching another seismic summer transfer window and their rivals (all seven of them) have a figurehead certain to be in the dugout in August.

Time is of the essence. The transfer window officially opens on June 14 and closes earlier than usual on August 30. That's a 77-day window for United to, ideally, sign seven players and sell another seven.

Whether it is Ten Hag or an alternative in the manager's office at Carrington for pre-season, United are at risk of being late. Jose Mourinho wanted Renato Sanches yet United's refusal to sack Louis van Gaal until the end of the 2015-16 season gave Bayern Munich a free run at the Portuguese prodigy.

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