Carrington – Technical Office, Deadline Day
The clock above the door read 10:47 PM. Less than ninety minutes remained in the window.
The assistant handed Mason the latest confirmation.
Chris Smalling – SOLD to AS Roma – £15 million
A larger sum than expected. Young, English, versatile. Roma saw a future. Mason saw surplus.
He marked the last name off the board.
"Done," said the assistant. "All your outs finalized."
Mason nodded once. His eyes drifted to the other half of the wall—where his revolution was now permanent ink.
OUT:
Anderson – Internacional (Free + sell-on)
Fabio – Benfica (£2.5m)
Tom Cleverley – Loan to Aston Villa (Option to buy)
Chris Smalling – Roma (£15m)
IN:
Toni Kroos – £20m
Casemiro – £5m
Virgil van Dijk – £4.5m
Marquinhos – £10m
Álex Grimaldo – £2m
João Cancelo – £2.5m
Mohamed Salah – £12m
Heung-Min Son – £8m
Paulo Dybala – £10m
Romelu Lukaku – £28m
Net Spend: £83 million
"You've spent Ferguson's shadow," said his assistant. "And half the Glazers' patience."
Mason smiled faintly. "Now we earn it back. With interest."
Media Reaction – 48 Hours Later
The Guardian:
"In a summer of excess, Manchester United haven't just rewritten the script—they've burned it. Mason Grant, the young manager with no managerial pedigree, has sold four senior players and bought ten unfamiliar names, most under 23. This is either visionary or suicidal. No middle ground."
The Daily Mail (Back Page):
⚽ GRANT'S GAMBLE"No Fabregas. No Bale. No big names. Just a sea of 'who?'Can Manchester United afford to trust a man with zero top-level experience?"
The Times:
"Toni Kroos may be the pick of the bunch, but fans will raise eyebrows at the arrival of teenagers like Cancelo, Grimaldo, and Dybala. The question isn't 'who will start?' It's 'who will survive?'"
Sky Sports – Gary Neville:
"It's bold. Possibly brilliant. I'll admit it—some of these lads I've never watched play 90 minutes. But Mason's clearly got a plan. United needed one. Whether it works... well, we'll see."
TalkSPORT Callers:
"Selling Smalling? Madness. He's got leadership potential!"
"Salah over Zaha? Wrong call. No one watches Swiss football!"
"We haven't had a real manager since Fergie. Mason's just playing Football Manager."
"Casemiro? From Real B? That's a pub team!"
"Mark my words: Kroos is the next Scholes."
Twitter/X Trends:
#GrantOut
#TrustTheVision
#Masonomics
#WhoIsDybala
#FutureOrFantasy
Fan Reactions Outside Old Trafford:
One older fan:
"I watched Busby's babes grow up. Maybe we're seeing the start of something like that again. Or maybe this lad just pressed reset too fast."
A younger supporter:
"If Salah runs like he did at Basel, I don't care who we sold. Just give me goals."
Carrington – Mason's Office
Mason watched the footage of Salah's sprint metrics. Closed his laptop. He wasn't chasing the press. He was chasing time.
His phone buzzed again.
Subject: Rooney. Wants to talk about the false nine role. Again.
He smiled.
"Let's see if the old guard can keep up with the new fire."
Carrington – Lecture Theatre, Preseason Day One
The core of the old guard sat up front—Vidic with arms folded, Ferdinand leaning back, the weight of years under Ferguson still thick on their shoulders.
Evra had a fresh haircut. Valencia wore the captain's armband, unofficial but understood. In the back rows, Casemiro, Van Dijk, Cancelo, Grimaldo sat watching and listening.
Mason stepped forward, a clicker in his hand and a quiet certainty in his eyes.
"We're not tearing it down. We're layering the future over it."
The screen behind him flashed on.
THE PLAN: EVOLUTION, NOT EXILE.
Tactical Setup – Premier League Opening Phase
Formation: 4-2-3-1 (Transitional)
GK: David De Gea
RB: Antonio Valencia
CBs: Nemanja Vidic & Rio Ferdinand
LB: Patrice Evra
DM: Michael Carrick
CM: Toni Kroos
LAM: Nani
RAM: Shinji Kagawa (deeper, interlinking with Kroos)
CAM/CF: Wayne Rooney (shadow striker role)
ST: Robin van Persie
On the bench: Casemiro, Van Dijk, Marquinhos, Salah, Son, Dybala, Lukaku.
Mason pointed at the midfield shape.
"Carrick holds the rhythm. Casemiro shadows him. Learns every tempo change, every angle. We don't replace leadership—we transmit it."
He turned to the defense board.
"Vidic and Rio start. They earned it. But Van Dijk and Marquinhos will breathe down their necks. This isn't about pressure. It's about legacy. Every veteran teaches his successor."
He gestured toward the wings.
"Nani gets the left. Confidence player—keep him smiling, he'll win you games. Kagawa plays tucked in on the right. Not a winger—he's a connector. He shifts in, lets Valencia bomb past."
Then he turned to the front line.
"Van Persie leads the line. Still world-class. But understand this: if we need to press from the front, Lukaku is coming."
Training Dynamics
Casemiro watched Carrick's positioning with the attention of a surgeon. Every drill, every turn. Mason stood beside him more often than anyone.
"Don't chase the ball," he told Casemiro. "Let it chase you. Watch how Michael does it. One second late and you're jogging, not dictating."
Grimaldo and Cancelo rotated in short intervals with Evra and Valencia. Patience. Absorption. Respect.
Kroos slid into tempo control like it was his native language. No flash. Just rhythm. Clean. Relentless.
"He's going to be a problem," Rooney muttered, watching him stroke another pass through a half-space.
Goals for the First Half of the Season
Top 2 position by January
Group-stage qualification in Champions League with a match to spare
Maintain defensive record under 1 goal conceded per match
Minimum 15 combined goals from Van Persie and Rooney before Christmas
Three debuts for new signings by Matchday 10
Mason's Message to the Squad
"This is a transition season. Not for the club—but for the league. While others buy names, we're building a future."
He paused.
"Evra, Rio, Nemanja—this isn't the end. It's the handover. You don't step down. You step beside. And when the new ones are ready, they won't just follow you. They'll thank you."
A beat. Then applause. Not loud. But solid. Earned.