The last three years has been marred by bruising disappointment for a Manchester United fanbase that has been drinking freely from the goblet of success for as long as it can remember.
The arrival of Jose Mourinho brought about a boost after poor results on the field post Sir Alex and the three signings made so far look like the real deal.
But the coup de grace, the icing on the cake, would have been the signing of Paul Pogba – a genuine A-list talent who hasn’t yet reached his prime.
And so close have Manchester United ostensibly been to concluding a deal over the last week that some of us were taking the transfer as a given.
But the latest comments of Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane have set alarm bells ringing across the Manchester. Los Blancos’ head coach has been showing Pogba a little too much metaphorical cleavage and the subtext certainly seems to be that Zizou is still keen to sign the 23-year-old.
Things can change so quickly in the modern game but, despite Zidane’s sound bites, Manchester United remain favourites with bookmakers SkyBet to conclude a transfer for the next Yaya Toure.
While Manchester United have come out from 1/8 to 4/7, they are still at much shorter odds than Real Madrid, who have come in to 7/4 to complete what will surely be a world record transfer deal for the French international.
For the sake of everyones’ sanity we truly hope that this deal iS done and dusted over the next few days so that we can all go about our business.
Manchester United fans: still confident of Pogba to Old Trafford?