It had just turned midday on transfer deadline day at Manchester United's training ground, but things were already getting hectic. Altay Bayindir had recently completed his transfer from Fenerbahce to play back-up to Andre Onana. Erik ten Hag then held his press conference, in which he confirmed that Sergio Reguilon had not only completed his loan move but had already trained with the team and would be in the squad to face Arsenal on Sunday.
Just minutes after Ten Hag had finished speaking to the media, journalists were ushered out of the press room and encouraged to leave the training ground so as to finish their write-ups elsewhere. There was more pressing business, such as Reguilon's official unveiling and photoshoot, taking place in the room they vacated.
Then there was the small matter of United's long-running pursuit of Sofyan Amrabat. Unlike with Reguilon, Ten Hag refused to give anything away on the Morocco midfielder. Just after he had finished speaking, however, news broke that United had agreed a loan deal with Fiorentina. Later in the evening, Jonny Evans signed a one-year contract, eight years after he had left the club to join West Brom. It had been a frenetic day of arrivals, one to rival a major international airport.
If only things were as busy for departures. Less than 12 hours before the transfer window was due to shut, Scott McTominay's future was not 100 percent clear, even though it was always expected that he would stay. The club were on the hunt for takers for Donny van de Beek and Eric Bailly and still trying to resolve the ever uncomfortable issue of what to do with Mason Greenwood, who completed his shock loan move to Getafe minutes before the deadline.
Despite getting three bid deals done early on in the transfer window, the chaos that ensued on deadline day suggested that little has changed at United. It is one year after another frantic day of business in which the club grossly overpaid for Antony, and a decade since they paid over the odds to get Marouane Fellaini, the only signing David Moyes was granted.