While the football world was still talking about the spectacular opening of New Manchester United's stadium complex, and while everyone waited to see whether Chelsea or Manchester United had another major signing in store, the Red Rebels quietly reached an agreement with AC Milan for Rodrigo Palacio.
The moment the deal was announced, the transfer market exploded back into life.
Argentine star Rodrigo Palacio had joined AC Milan for €45.5 million.
It was one of the biggest transfers of the summer, involving perhaps the hottest player on the market. Palacio's performances at the Copa América had turned him into one of the most talked-about young attackers in world football, and clubs across Europe had spent weeks monitoring his situation.
The €45.5 million fee placed him among the ten most expensive transfers in European football history, narrowly surpassing the €45 million Real Madrid had once paid for Ronaldo and putting Palacio seventh on the all-time list. One of the few deals above him was Shevchenko's move to Chelsea earlier that same summer.
Naturally, the transfer caused enormous debate in England, particularly among Red Rebels supporters. Many struggled to understand why New Manchester United would suddenly agree to sell one of their most important attacking players immediately after an extraordinary season.
The club responded before speculation could take control of the story. Alongside the announcement on its official website, New Manchester United held a press conference the following day with Ethan and Palacio both present. Ethan stated clearly that the club had approved the transfer because they believed the move could benefit Palacio's development and allow him to take on a role New Manchester United could not honestly promise him.
Palacio said that leaving would not erase anything he had experienced in Manchester. He would never forget the supporters or the people who had helped him grow, and with his father still working around the club, he expected to return regularly. Manchester had become his home in Europe, regardless of which shirt he wore.
To put an end to suggestions that Palacio had forced his way out, he and Ethan embraced warmly in front of the cameras. There was no bitterness between them and no attempt to pretend otherwise.
Mourinho issued his own statement through the club website. He repeated that New Manchester United would have preferred to keep Palacio but acknowledged that AC Milan could give the Argentine a more central attacking role than he would receive at Newton Heath.
Supporters were understandably worried about what Palacio's departure meant for the attacking quartet, but Mourinho already had his answer.
"We still have Arjen Robben. We have Franck Ribéry. Leo Messi is good enough to start matches for us now. I am not concerned about the right side of our attack."
Because the club addressed the issue openly and immediately, the transfer never developed into the kind of crisis some newspapers had expected. The fee also made sense from a business perspective. At close to €46 million, Milan were paying an extraordinary amount for a player New Manchester United had developed into one of Europe's most valuable attackers.
From the evidence of pre-season, Mourinho had already adapted his attacking structure. The system built around two wide forwards remained intact, but Cristiano Ronaldo and Robben now looked likely to begin the campaign as the first-choice pairing. Cristiano was naturally right-footed and Robben left-footed, which made the left and right flanks respectively ideal for them to cut inside onto their stronger feet, although both remained capable of switching sides during matches.
Ribéry, another right-footed player, was expected to receive more consistent minutes from the left rather than constantly moving between three attacking positions, while Messi would spend most of his time competing on the right. Mourinho still valued Ribéry's versatility and would use him centrally when required, but the Frenchman now had a clearer place within the rotation.
Pre-season training also revealed several changes in the way the front four were being asked to move. Kaká's forward runs had become even more important. Mourinho wanted both wide players and Drogba to create lanes for him, while Beckham behind them was being given greater freedom to alter the direction and tempo of attacks.
The details had changed, but the overall structure had not. New Manchester United were still recognisably the same side that had won the Premier League and UEFA Cup.
While Palacio completed his record-breaking transfer to Milan, Arsenal announced the signing of Brede Hangeland from Copenhagen. Another former Red Rebel had therefore reached one of Europe's biggest clubs. Although the transfer strengthened a direct rival, New Manchester United supporters generally reacted with pride. Hangeland's rise was further evidence that the club's development system was producing players capable of succeeding at the highest level.
Chelsea, meanwhile, had looked impressive during a series of pre-season matches in the Netherlands.
Ancelotti had arrived determined to turn them into a tactically powerful side without sacrificing attacking football. The early matches suggested that he was still experimenting, which was understandable after such a dramatic summer overhaul, but his preferred defensive unit was already becoming clear.
Timo Hildebrand had been one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga the previous season, and Ancelotti immediately installed him ahead of Cudicini. He was still adapting to the speed and physicality of English football, but nobody doubted his underlying quality.
Wayne Bridge remained the favourite at left-back, although Babayaro provided competition. Paulo Ferreira appeared to have secured the right side, while Cannavaro and Stam formed the first-choice centre-back pairing. Carvalho gave Ancelotti another elite option behind them.
Across Chelsea's warm-up matches, the defence looked strong and increasingly comfortable together. The individual quality was obvious, and there was every reason to believe the unit would become more convincing once competitive football began.
Midfield and attack were less settled. Ancelotti rotated through 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, and 4-3-2-1 shapes, although the evidence increasingly suggested that his choice would come down to the 4-2-3-1 and the Christmas-tree 4-3-2-1.
In the Christmas-tree system, Emerson, Deco, and Verón formed the deeper midfield three, with Lampard and Joe Cole operating behind Shevchenko. The shape had produced some excellent football during pre-season, particularly from Lampard and Cole, who repeatedly found space around Shevchenko and arrived in dangerous positions from behind him.
Abramovich was still not entirely satisfied with the squad and hoped to add Michael Ballack before the transfer window closed. Bayern Munich, however, had little financial need to sell their captain and continued to reject Chelsea's approaches.
Ancelotti's preferred midfield structure made his intentions fairly obvious. He wanted Chelsea to control games as well as attack them. Verón sat deeper and handled much of the first phase of distribution, Deco moved around him to connect midfield with attack, and Emerson provided the defensive balance and ball-winning.
Judging from their recent performances, Chelsea were adapting more quickly than many had expected. That only increased anticipation ahead of the Premier League season.
Yet if any club had dominated pre-season, it was Manchester United.
Ferguson had been using Van Nistelrooy as the lone striker, with Diego and Scholes behind him. Scholes operated slightly deeper, taking responsibility for circulation and support while still making his familiar late runs towards the penalty area. Giggs and Robinho supplied the width, with Keane anchoring midfield behind them.
The system had looked extremely dangerous.
Diego and Robinho added a level of technical subtlety to a Manchester United midfield already known for its intensity, aggression, and experience. United had won several warm-up matches comfortably, and Robinho in particular had become one of the stories of the summer with his tricks, dribbling, and willingness to attack defenders.
The season had not even started, yet bookmakers had already published their Premier League title odds. Chelsea were listed as favourites, Manchester United followed, while New Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool were grouped closely behind. Outside Chelsea, the differences between the leading clubs were relatively small.
Newspapers and magazines produced their own assessments. New Manchester United's defence was again ranked among the strongest in the country. A first-choice back line of Evra, Terry, Curtis, and Kolo Touré was already excellent, while Lahm, Vidić, Maicon, and Chiellini provided extraordinary depth.
Chelsea were generally ranked next. A central pairing of Cannavaro and Stam was almost impossible to dismiss on reputation alone.
In attack, however, there was more debate. New Manchester United still had Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Robben, and Beckham, an exceptional group by any standard, but Chelsea and Manchester United now possessed extraordinarily expensive attacking squads filled with players in or approaching their prime.
Even Martin Samuel, one of the strongest advocates of Mourinho's team, acknowledged the risk in selling Palacio. He argued that the move created opportunities for the next generation, but also placed greater responsibility on young players. Nobody doubted the talent of Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben, Kaká, Messi, or the others. The question was whether they could become consistently decisive over an entire season.
Chelsea and Manchester United, by contrast, had invested heavily in established players who were already physically and mentally mature. If their new squads integrated smoothly, Samuel believed both clubs had the depth to put enormous pressure on the champions.
Ethan and Mourinho did not disagree with much of that analysis.
They both knew New Manchester United had benefited from circumstances during the previous title race. The team had been outstanding, but the campaign had also exposed weaknesses. Their level occasionally dipped during the most congested parts of the schedule, and several of the younger players had struggled to reproduce their best football under maximum pressure.
Beckham had been the exception. He had been the biggest individual influence on the title-winning season and was deservedly named Premier League Player of the Season. After a full year adapting to Mourinho's central role, Ethan and the coaching staff believed he could be even better this time. He was still in the prime of his career and now understood the system instinctively.
Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Robben were different. Ethan and Mourinho agreed that they needed time rather than unrealistic expectations. Drogba was still improving as well. He had spent much of the previous season studying Villa's finishing in training, particularly the Spaniard's movement before the shot and his ability to finish cleanly without needing excessive touches. The extra work had already begun to show.
Villa, meanwhile, remained far more than a simple backup. His form and scoring rate were consistently strong, which meant Mourinho could trust him in major matches and occasionally leave Drogba on the bench without significantly weakening the team.
After Palacio was sold, Ethan once again suggested using some of the money on another player.
Mourinho rejected the idea.
Michael Johnson and Mikel were already good enough to contribute to the first team, he argued, and both had grown up inside the club's tactical framework. They understood what Mourinho wanted and could carry out their instructions without months of adaptation.
Another signing would only reduce the minutes available to those academy players.
More importantly, it would reduce Messi's opportunities.
Mourinho rated the sixteen-year-old enormously. Messi could operate anywhere across the attacking line, and the manager believed the coming season should be the one in which he became a genuine senior player rather than simply an exceptional substitute.
The moment Mourinho brought up Messi, Ethan stopped pressing the issue.
If sacrificing a little short-term certainty gave Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Kaká, Robben, and the rest of the young core the space to mature, Ethan considered that a far better investment than another expensive signing.
His confidence that all of those attacking players could coexist came largely from Mourinho. The manager had previously gone through their technical characteristics, preferred movements, habits, and positional tendencies in detail. His conclusion was that the group was not inherently incompatible at all.
If anything, once they matured together, their combination could become devastating.
That was enough for Ethan.
The Palacio money was therefore redirected into other projects. Part went towards football schools in Argentina and Brazil, while further funds were committed to charitable programmes in disadvantaged communities around the world.
With the transfer settled, attention shifted back to football.
The new stadium's first competitive-style fixture would be the annual Newton Heath Cup, the traditional charity match between New Manchester United and Droylsden. What had started years earlier as a small local event had gradually become an important fixture for both sets of supporters.
Granada Television purchased the broadcasting rights and produced a special programme on the history of the cup before the live match. The documentary also revisited New Manchester United's rise through English football, giving a wider audience another look at how a club founded only a few years earlier had become Premier League champions.
For the Red Rebels, pre-season was nearly over.
Now came the first real test of what the new campaign might become.
(To be continued.)
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◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)