Any complaints Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may have had about the summer transfer window are likely to have dissipated on Friday as quickly as Manchester United's transfer budget. Leicester have now accepted an £85million bid for Harry Maguire, the England centre-back set to become the most expensive defender of all time. Add that to Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, and the Red Devils have undoubtedly strengthened over the past two-and-a-half months. It means Solskjaer will have no excuses as he looks to get his side back in the top four in his first full season in charge. United have missed out on the Champions League spots four times since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, though Jose Mourinho offset that once by winning the Europa League. 

It's not for want of trying, either. 

The Glazers understandably take their fair share of criticism, and Ed Woodward's transfer strategy is so often derided, but the club have made serious attempts to invest in their under-performing squad. 

In fact, the addition of Maguire now takes their spending since they last won the league up to £968million. 

Even more alarmingly, they have forked out £1.18billion since last winning the Champions League in 2008. 

Of their 10 most expensive signings of all time, nine - with the exception of Dimitar Berbatov in 2008 - have come in the post-Fergie era. 

One has to wonder what the legendary Scotsman, who still works in an advisory capacity at Old Trafford, makes of it all. 

Paul Pogba (£89m) still leads the way, followed closely by Maguire. Romelu Lukaku and Angel Di Maria follow not too far behind. 

'And for what?' United fans might ask.

In spite of all that, the two major prizes on offer continue to elude them.

It seems unlikely that will change in 2019/20, Manchester City and Liverpool once again expected to set the pace, at least in English domestic football.