It was at the start of the October international window, around the time Manchester United’s hierarchy held a now infamous seven-hour meeting deliberating on the future of Erik ten Hag, that the club first approached Ruben Amorim. The initial response wasn’t effusive, which is one reason Ten Hag remained in a job that bit longer than he might have. Although many in football expected the situation to continue interminably, this time there was a difference. United, in the words of one senior football figure, were going to “start acting like a big club”.