When the stars of Erik ten Hag's great Ajax team of 2018/19 departed Amsterdam, they barely even glanced at the Premier League.
Frenkie de Jong was wanted by Manchester City but only ever had eyes for Barcelona. Matthijs de Ligt was linked with Manchester United but wanted a move to Juventus and the world's best finishing school for defenders.
It felt like a sign of the times, that the most wanted players in world football were moving to Italy and to Spain rather than to the Premier League. But the footballing landscape has changed considerably since 2019.
In an ideal world, Barcelona would keep De Jong this summer, but the Catalans are operating in a world that is far from ideal for them. The 25-year-old midfielder looks ideal for Xavi's team but the club need the money a sale would bring and United are the only realistic suitor. Three years after turning City down, De Jong will move to the other side of Manchester this summer.
United always expected De Ligt to move on the continent in 2019, initially to Barcelona before Juventus made their move. He's had a reasonable three years in Turin and should be ready to graduate after the departure of Giorgio Chiellini, but instead, he could be sold to Chelsea.
Juventus are also short of cash and De Ligt is a target for Thomas Tuchel, who needs to replace Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. The 22-year-old should be the heart of Juventus' defence for a decade, but money talks and a move to the Premier League might happen this summer.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused more financial issues to clubs in Europe than in the Premier League and since 2019 the balance of power has shifted considerably back to England, whose clubs remain cash cows with huge spending power. With Barcelona and Juventus both considering selling players they would rather keep, it is only the Premier League or Paris St-Germain that can come up with the kind of sums required.
De Ligt and De Jong might have been open to Premier League moves one day anyway, but they have little option but to move here this summer and the league is more attractive than ever given the financial power of the big six clubs.
Had United not been restricted in their spending power by failing to qualify for the Champions League then Ten Hag might well have tried to get the entire band back together by rivalling Chelsea for De Ligt, but that is unlikely given the sums involved. A centre-back will be on United's radar this summer, however.
The sight of a defender Ten Hag knows so well moving to a club he is hoping to catch shows the challenge that awaits United's new manager. He's inherited a side that finished sixth — well short of the top four — and he needs to close that gap.
There might be some improvement to be elicited on the training pitches of Carrington, but a lot of it will need to come from transfers as well and United have to be shrewd in the market.
Not only are De Jong and De Ligt potentially heading to the Premier League this summer, but Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez, two of the most in-demand forwards in Europe, have already joined City and Liverpool.
When Europe's best players move these days, the Premier League is almost always the destination of choice, unless the deals are free agents, such as Paul Pogba and Rudiger leaving these shores this summer.
While United will improve their squad, so will the five clubs above them and the pulling power of those sides has never been bigger. The Premier League is the place to be now for elite players and elite managers. There have been six English clubs in the last five Champions League finals and the biggest surprise last season was that City didn't make it another all-Premier League final, blowing a commanding advantage against Real Madrid.
This points to the scale of the task facing Ten Hag. To make United Premier League challengers once again the Dutchman has to make them one of the best teams in Europe.
There are only a handful of clubs now capable of competing with the Premier League's best in Europe and, as we're saying this summer, they can't compete off the pitch. The arrival of De Jong and De Ligt, two players considered amongst the best youngsters in world football three years ago, is another sign of the shifting power in the European game.