Funny to think that one of the key moments Sir Alex Ferguson would later identify in his disintegrating relationship with David Beckham was picking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of his famous No 7 for the visit of Real Madrid to Old Trafford in the Champions League in 2003.

By then Beckham, as Ferguson saw it, was a long way from the “wee, starry-eyed kid” he once knew. He infuriated his manager by refusing to remove a beanie intended to keep a newly shaven head under wraps during a pre-match meal and the subsequent warm-up.

Different times. In the distant austerity of those pre-social media days, leveraging one’s celebrity did sometimes involve the wearing of a hat indoors for days on end.

Towards the end of the 2002-2003 season Solskjaer was identified by Ferguson as the successor to Beckham on the right of midfield, until injury and Cristiano Ronaldo intervened.

You wonder how Solskjaer views the latest talented butterfly in the United midfield with designs on a career in Madrid. Sixteen years on from the summer Beckham left, and 10 since Ronaldo went the same way, it seems Madrid want Paul Pogba. Regardless of whether United wish to sell, they are at least in the driving seat.