At Old Trafford, they will reminisce for ever about the "Holy Trinity" of Charlton, Law and Best that enriched the Manchester United legend, but Carlos Queiroz, the assistant manager, touched yesterday on the notion of going one better, hailing the arrival of a brilliant young attacking force that would demand to be called "Fab Four" if a bunch of Scousers had not beaten them to it.
Long-awaited confirmation of the signing of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich for about £17 million finally arrived yesterday, but it was the acquisition of two young attacking talents from Portugal for similar fees that had Queiroz gushing with excitement. As if the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, 22 and 21 respectively, is not uplifting enough, they will be joined next season by Nani, the 20-year-old Sporting Lisbon winger, and Anderson, the 19-year-old FC Porto playmaker, with the two deals understood to be worth projected figures of £17.3 million and £20.4 million respectively.
"It is a significant investment in Manchester United's prospects for the next ten years," Queiroz said of the enormous potential outlay, with the initial fees considerably smaller in both cases. "It is worth imagining a forward line with Rooney, Ronaldo, Anderson and Nani. These are players with enormous creativity. It's an attraction being able to develop their abilities. I have worked with young players many times and their potential is impressive. They are players who correspond to the club's intentions."
It is a mouth-watering prospect, with Anderson rated by many as better than was Ronaldinho, his fellow Brazilian, at the same age and Nani having drawn comparisons to Ronaldo, who preceded him at Sporting.
However, the vision offered by Queiroz is a little misleading, with the two youngsters likely to be used sparingly at first and given time to adjust to the rigours of English football. The idea is that, by the time Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have begun to wane, their places will be taken by Anderson and Nani respectively, with the latter, like Ronaldo, favouring his right foot but possessing the ability to play on either wing.
As for next season's lineup, the arrival of Hargreaves is more relevant as it will reinforce a midfield in which a lack of aggression was occasionally exposed this term, notably by AC Milan in the European Cup semi-final, second leg.
Hargreaves, who has passed a medical and will officially become a United player on July 1, will add bite, whether competing with Michael Carrick and Scholes for one of two central midfield places in a 4-2-3-1 formation or most probably with them in a three-man midfield against stronger opponents, especially in Europe. A top-class centre forward is also on Sir Alex Ferguson's shopping list, with Samuel Eto'o the perfect candidate, but he remains a distant target.
It emerged yesterday that Nicolas Anelka, of Bolton Wanderers, is among those whom United are monitoring, but it is a long list, headed by Eto'o and taking in names such as Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur), Fernando Torres (Atlético Madrid), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Carlos Tévez (West Ham United) and Michael Owen (Newcastle United). Ferguson would prefer to add a reliable goalscorer to ease the burden on Rooney and Ronaldo, given uncertainty over the fitness of Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Alan Smith.