sample size is small, but promising. He has 22 Premier League appearances but 18 of them are as substitute and he amassed just 645 minutes in that time, which equates to a non-pen goal P90 rate of 0.70, far outstripping his team-mates. Solskjaer is clearly being careful with the amount of exposure a young forward who is only 18 is being given, but his cameos have been hugely promising. His touches in the box, shots and efforts on target are largely in line with Rashford and Martial but he’s doing more with them. He deserves the opportunity to prove that he is the future.

And that explains the Sancho chase. With Ighalo able to share minutes with Greenwood as a bona-fide centre-forward, Martial and Rashford will be pushed into deciding what their best position is, if Sancho arrives. The 20-year-old can play on either side, though has featured more often on the right this season, and is a bona-fide future great whose numbers blow Martial and Rashford completely out of the water.

As discussed previously, he is No.1 in Europe’s top five leagues for non-pen goal contributions P90 and in all competitions, including appearances in Euro qualifying for England, he has 22 goals and 21 assists in 3335 minutes of play, with not a penalty in sight; for every 77 minutes he has played, he has either scored or assisted.