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Louis van Gaal refused a holiday after the World Cup and instead arrived at Manchester's training complex in late July to assess the squad he inherited.
The verdict? Changes were needed, and fast. Regular starters from years gone by Danny Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa and Luis Nani were among those to feel the full force of the Dutchman's axe.
And Van Gaal introduced new faces in a mega-money overhaul, the likes of which had never been seen at Old Trafford before.
The former Bayern Munich boss spent north of £150million bringing new blood to Old Trafford and ex-boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who was less inclined to spend the big bucks, has since admitted the club needed 'a big injection'.
Remarkably - despite the departures of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Alex Buttner - Van Gaal focused on those in front of the defensive four.
Radamel Falcao arrived on deadline day from Monaco, while British transfer record signing Angel di Maria joined midfielders Ander Herrera and Daley Blind.
As far as defensive acquisitions went, there was little done about the lack of depth at centre-half, although left-sided Marcos Rojo can play at in the middle, while left-back Luke Shaw offset Evra's departure.
But, two months in, how are the summer additions faring? Scroll through our gallery to see how Standard Sport grades the new boys...
How Manchester United’s summer signings have fared so far
