Marko Arnautovic and Adrien Rabiot have recently emerged as major transfer targets for Premier League giants Manchester United.
United have been in touch with both Bologna and Juventus attempting to negotiate deals for the players in recent days.
But it's fair to say the reaction amongst Red Devils fans has been overwhelmingly negative judging by today's social media outburst.
Due to that, we've decided to attempt to do United's recruitment department's job for them and pick out five alternatives for each player that we feel would be a serious upgrade on their prospective signings.
Five Rabiot alternatives
Declan Rice
West Ham's favourite son certainly wouldn't come cheap - but when do United ever do anything overly-wise with their money nowadays?
In terms of his on-pitch offering, Rice is arguably twice the player Rabiot is.
It goes without saying that Englishman is a more defensively sound player than Rabiot and just about any other options United have in the middle of the park.
However, Rice also put up considerably better attacking numbers in 2021/22 than his counterpart, contributing five goals and four assists for the Hammers compared to Rabiot's two assists for Juventus.
Ruben Neves
A scorer of great goals, Neves really is a man who knows how to pull off the spectacular.
He's also now made 141 Premier League appearances despite being just 25, so strikes a nice balance between experience and room for growth.
The Wolves star has reportedly been a Man Utd target throughout this summer which begs the question as to why they haven't swooped in for him ahead of Rabiot already...
N'Golo Kante
The iconic Frenchman endured a difficult year by his lofty standards last time out and, with just one year remaining on his contract, we wonder whether Chelsea could be tempted to cash in on the 31-year-old.
Kante might not be as creative as someone like Frenkie de Jong, but he was still arguably the best midfielder on the planet for a couple of years when in his pomp.
If he can return to anywhere near that kind of form, Kante would be one hell of a signing.
Youri Tielemans
Tielemans was expected to become an Arsenal player this summer, however with the Gunners passing up the opportunity and the fact he's now entered the final season of his contract, United could stand a real chance of signing the talented Belgian.
Still just 25, who knows how much he could develop as a player in the years to come, with many central midfielders now peaking around the 30-mark.
Jude Bellingham
Could United really hijack the Bellingham transfer before their Premier League rivals swoop in the next summer?
It's a big ask. An ask that, like in the case of Rice, would set the club back a large fortune, but we're talking about the future of English football in this young lad.
One of Liverpool or Man City are surely likely to sign him in 2023, it's just whether Erik ten Hag could pull a sly one and get their first...
Man United EMBARRASSED! Arnautovic & Rabiot CLOSE✍️ Neto to Arsenal✅ Haaland on FIRE🔥(The Football Terrace)
Five Arnautovic alternatives
Patrik Schick
Let's just review Schick's Bundesliga goal-record from last season - 27 games, 24 goals...
You can't honestly suggest that a 33-year-old Arnautovic represents a better option than that.
He's been lethal ever since bursting onto the scene at Euro 2020 and, although you can bet Bayer Leverkusen would be keen to keep him, the draw of United would surely be too much.
Alexander Isak
Another that impressed at Euro 2020, the big Swedish forward has often been touted for a move to Liverpool over the last year.
However, the 22-year-old remains a Real Sociedad player and could prove an outstanding signing for both now and the future.
Victor Osimhen
The Napoli forward is hot property on the European scene having scored goals everywhere he's played.
His tally of 14 Serie A goals in 2021/22 is a more than solid return for Osimhen given he's still only 23 and you can bet he has plenty of improvement in him yet.
Benjamin Sesko
According to ESPN, United are still in talks with Sesko, however we've decided to include him in this list with the media noise surrounding the deal quietening down to a whisper in recent days.
The club shouldn't let a move for Arnautovic overshadow, or dare we say replace, the potential signing of a talented young star like Sesko.
It's time for the club to think to the future and Sesko would fit that mould nicely.
Wissam Ben Yedder
Well, if the Frenchman plays half as well as his FIFA Ultimate Team card then United could be on to a cracker with Ben Yedder.
His league record of 164 goals in 347 games since 2010 makes for impressive reading and, whilst the fact he's 31 counts against him, he's still got two years on Arnautovic.
Ben Yedder would be a risk but a calculated one, that's for sure.