Sir Jim Ratcliffe may have only been at Manchester United officially for a matter of days, but he has already sanctioned his first major transfer deal, if recent reports are to be believed.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe plans long-term change
Despite the excitement that greeted Ratcliffe's arrival at the Old Trafford helm, he is not planning on rushing things and has already set out a three-year plan to get the Red Devils back towards the top of the Premier League and European football.
"It's not a light switch. It's not one of these things that changes overnight," Ratcliffe told Man Utd fans this week.
"We have to be careful we don't rush at it in a way, you don't want to run to the wrong solution rather than walk to the correct solution. We need to do things well and properly, and thoroughly, and not rush at it, so it's not an overnight change, it's going to take two or three seasons.
"You have to ask the fans for some patience. I know the world these days likes instant gratification but that's not the case with football really."
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First on his agenda is going to be trimming the squad, with plenty of players currently on the books that are likely to be moved on this summer. Anthony Martial will leave on a free transfer, while there are question marks over Casemiro, Raphael Varane, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Christian Eriksen and Sofyan Amrabat (whose loan is set to expire at the end of the season).
Both Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay were also strongly linked with moves away from Old Trafford last summer, and that interest could be reignited should Ten Hag deem them surplus to requirements once more.
Ten Hag requests defensive reinforcements
With so many potential departures new faces are inevitable, and according to reports coming out of Spain, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has already got his order in. The player he is after? Long-term defensive target Goncalo Inacio, who currently plies his trade at Sporting CP in the Portuguese top flight.
The Portuguese centre-back has excelled for Sporting since he broke into the first team and would hand Ten Hag another left-footed option in defence to provide cover and competition for Lisandro Martinez, who is looking increasingly injury prone.
Still just 22-years-old, Inacio has already made five senior appearances for the Portugual national team and is thought to have a 60m euro (just over £51m) release clause written into his contract in Lisbon. Long on United's radar, Ten Hag is thought to have specifically requested his signing over the summer, and this report coiniciding with Ratcliffe's official arrival says United are now "willing" to meet the clause in the wake of the new investment.
Inacio vs current United defenders (per 90 mins)
Harry Maguire
Lisandro Martinez
Raphael Varane
Goncalo Inacio
Passes attempted per 90
59.2
59.3
51.8
87.5
Pass accuracy
83%
90.6%
87.6%
88.7%
Tackles per 90
1.10
2.28
1
1.52
Clearances per 90
4.05
3.62
4.78
2.33
Interceptions per 90
1.38
1.21
0.79
1.37
However, the report adds that United 'will have to fight with other European giants' to pull off the signing, with Liverpool having long been credited with an interest as a potential replacement for Virgil van Dijk and Tottenham having also previously been linked with Inacio, though they have since signed Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin under Ange Postecoglou.