With Manchester United again set to spend big as Jose Mourinho attempts to patch-up the holes in his first-team squad, it's all a far cry from the summer of 1995, when Alex Ferguson decided to sell star players such as Andrei Kanchelskis, Mark Hughes, and Paul Ince, and replace them with young players from the academy.
Then again, groups of young players don't come much more talented than the 'Class of 92', which we've heard so much about since the more celebrated members of that team have all retired over the past few seasons.
While Ferguson trusted the youth to much mockery and derision on that occasion, the six amigos that graduated to the first team and stayed there for the majority of their careers, but those that couldn't carve out a role for themselves, such as Robbie Savage and Keith Gillespie, were moved on.
The Northern Irishman was used as a bargaining chip in the transfer that brought Andy Cole to Old Trafford in January of 1995 with Gillespie going the other way, and while he enjoyed a good spell with the Magpies, he still looks back on that Man Utd youth team with which he felt invincible.
And rightly so, as he revealed in a chat with Conor Murray for BBC 5 Live Sport that the class of 92 even beat the Manchester United first-team in a match setup at their training ground. And this was no ordinary Man Utd side either...
By the way, does an old Man Utd player's tale even exist without Scholes chipping the keeper from 30 yards?
'Scholes chipped Schmeichel from 30 yards'@KeithGillespie7 on the Class of '92 beating @ManUtd's first team
?️: https://t.co/0sHg8XhjFJ pic.twitter.com/GCix4JVnYM— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) June 16, 2017
It was at the training ground one day, one thing I'll always remember is Peter Schmeichel being chipped by Paul Scholes from about 30 yards, and we ended up beating them 4-2.
You know, that sort of showed you how good the team was, because this was a Man Utd team which were, sort of in the middle of dominating everything. Playing against those people, Cantona, Hughes, Schmeichel, unbelievable players, and I'm sure they were a little bit worried because we were the new kids on the block, and they're maybe looking over their shoulders thinking: 'Oh, he's going to be taking my place soon!'
Clearly showing that sort of ability and self-belief to beat a side with those names in it as a group of young players would have had a big impact on Fergie's decision to sell off his stars, and it seems that Gillespie was right in the idea that the senior pros were worried for their place, because around half of that young squad would make the step up over the next few years.
A good story from Gillespie, but it's got some way to go before it tops Phil Neville and the reaction to his newly acquired step-overs.
