It is only eight years since Manchester United last won the league title but in some ways, it feels like a lifetime. United have crammed enough incompetence, upheaval, greed and self-loathing into those eight years to last a couple of decades but now it is finally beginning to feel as if the club's cycle of despair may soon be coming to an end.
The signing of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund is not a panacea. It will not change everything by itself. But it was significant because it was another sign that United are moving in the right direction.