Sir Alex Ferguson bullishly declared that Manchester United's next generation of young stars could play for the club for 'the next 10 years' as their tour of South Africa ended with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out defeat against Kaizer Chiefs in Pretoria, after 120 minutes had failed to produce a goal.
But the harsh reality for the Old Trafford manager is that Giuseppe Rossi, Kieran Richardson, Darren Fletcher and Phil Bardsley all failed to prove that they are genuine first-team contenders.
With Ruud van Nistelrooy seemingly heading to Real Madrid, once his protracted transfer is completed,
Despite lengthy pursuits of Michael Carrick, Fernando Torres and Tomasz Kuszczak, no new faces have yet arrived at Old Trafford and perhaps the most worrying aspect of the three-game South African tour is that United's star performers were Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - three players with glorious pasts rather than glorious futures.
Italian forward Rossi is likely to start the new season as third choice striker behind Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha, if Van Nistelrooy leaves and Torres is unable to be prised from Atletico
Players like Richardson, Fletcher and Bardsley have also struggled to emerge as anything more than fringe players in
With less than four weeks to go until the Premiership opener against Fulham at Old Trafford, United's squad appears painfully thin and Fletcher admitted that new blood is needed in order for the club to move forward.