Manchester United have slipped behind their big rivals Liverpool and Man City at an alarming rate over the past year and this summer is the time for the tide to start turning back the other way.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been confirmed as the new manager of the club on a permanent basis and will be hopeful for a strong end to the campaign but there must already be more than half an eye on the transfer window.
The current Manchester United squad is not strong enough to challenge for a Premier League title and that needs to be addressed with a number of weak links currently undermining their quality.
The transfer department has failed badly in recent years with massive Fred and Alexis Sanchez just two recent examples of big money being spent on players who are not good enough.
One area that has been a problem for United in recent years is the right-back slot with the likes of Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young filling in but that can't continue at a club which we are told are one of the richest in the world. Both players have done an admirable job but both are clearly past their best and new blood in that area of the pitch is essential this summer if the club are to move on.
Young Diego Dalot has shown promise and should be persevered with but he can'tt be relied upon to start every week at this stage which means that Aaron Wan-Bissaka should be the priority.
The Crystal Palace full-back has taken the league by storm over the past year both defensively and going forward with the 21-year-old clearly on the verge of a call up to the England national team.
The 21-year-old looks like the perfect modern full-back which can make such a massive difference to a team in both areas of the game, with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold the perfect examples of this at Liverpool.
Wan-Bissaka certainly wouldn't come cheap but Man United have been built on bringing in the best young players and believing in their talent at the very highest level. We saw with Liverpool when they signed Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson that they saw their own weaknesses and rectified them, regardless of cost, and Manchester United might need to swallow their pride and copy their biggest rivals in that regard.
No longer is it enough for a club who claim they want to be back winning the title to buy players who have potential but not the quality right now to improve the starting eleven. The appointment of a Sporting Director looks likely which should aid the club in their dealings but with Man City so strong and surely only going to get better and Liverpool not far behind, the time has come for United to once again join the party.
When Man City needed full-backs, they spent £100m on the likes of Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy and they haven't looked back since, it is time for United to take note.
Round pegs in square holes are no longer good enough.
