In a parallel universe, Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish are getting fired up ahead of the upcoming derby against Manchester City. Haaland followed his former coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Molde to Manchester United, while Grealish moved from Aston Villa to the Red Devils in 2020.
Meanwhile, City defensive duo Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, wearing light blue tracksuits, are discussing how they will stop Haaland and Grealish and are preparing themselves for the volley of abuse they will receive from the Stretford End.
Maguire joined City in 2019 along with Brazilian winger Antony, while Lindelof moved to the Etihad Stadium two years earlier. Raphael Varane is on the substitutes' bench for City after recovering from a niggling injury along with veteran Alexis Sanchez.
Paul Pogba, who controversially switched from the red half of Manchester to the blue half in 2022 as a free agent, will be lining up in midfield alongside Bruno Fernandes, who chose City over United in 2019...
Ok, let's head back to reality, even if it is fun to ponder what might have been been. Because, but for a few differences of opinion between sporting directors, chairmen and agents, a number of players involved in Sunday's Manchester Derby at Old Trafford could have been lining up on the opposite side of the divide.
With City still in the hunt to repeat last year's incredible treble success while United are looking increasingly likely to miss out on the top four, many of those players may have wished they chose a different destination. And City fans will be thanking their lucky stars they avoided some of the players who ended up flopping at Old Trafford.
Ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby, GOAL runs through all the players who were on the verge of moving to City but ended up joining United instead and had a far less happy time as a consequence...