With confirmation today that Eric Bailly has joined the club and speculation continuing to link Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Old Trafford, Manchester United fans can already see that Jose Mourinho is immediately attempting to strengthen the spine of his new side.
Where Louis van Gaal adopted some unconventional methods with mixed results, not least the deployment of Daley Blind at centre back, Jose Mourinho has reverted to type and signed a real beast of a physical specimen.
Perhaps the main reason that Mourinho has been so successful in four countries is that he pays particular attention to the strengths and weaknesses of each league.
And well he knows that England is possibly the most physical of all the competitions that he has competed in. For such a league you need warriors – just ask Arsenal fans who have spent a decade begging Arsene Wenger for them. Without those steely types to complement the artists, Arsenal haven’t really got close to serious silverware and Louis van Gaal struggled too in his time at United.
Down the years Mourinho has always paid attention to physical strength and stars like Essien, Matic, Drogba, Terry, Zouma and Ivanovic have been amongst his best performers in England.
And Bailly is a classic Mourinho type too. He may lack a little finesse at this early point of his career – he is only 22 and has just 40 league games under his belt – but he already looks about as athletic, resolute and powerful as any defender in The Premier League.
He will make mistakes for Manchester United. But he could eventually be part of a top team that is extremely difficult to beat. And we are talking about a player who could be at Old Trafford for a decade.
With players like Bailly and Zlatan in the side, Old Trafford can once more become an intimidating cauldron for the opposition and more points can be eeked out on those tough away trips.
If Manchester United can bring a world-class central midfielder like Paul Pogba and a top right winger in this summer, TFF feels almost certain that they will be in the title race come next May.
At £30m Eric Bailly looks like the sort of warrior who can be a stalwart for United for the next decade.