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The work Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done at Man United cannot solely be measured by results and performances, even if both are improving under the Norwegian's guidance.
Instead, Solskjaer's impact on the club needs to be assessed through the lens of what he inherited and the changes he has made off the pitch since December 2018, when he replaced Jose Mourinho.
Compare the profile of the squad when Solskjaer arrived to the squad he has at his disposal now and there has been a considerable transformation. While Mourinho's squad was built for short-term success, leaving an ageing collection of players to his predecessor, Solskjaer will hand down a young, hungry and dynamic squad with improvement to come.
The obvious caveat here is that Solskjaer will expect to be the manager that benefits from the work he has done in that regard. He's shaped the squad for the style he wants to play and will hope to continue to rebuild it this summer.
But if the progress he's overseen does stall at any point, or the former United striker doesn't turn out to be the boss who can restore the club to the top of the table, then his work in revamping the squad shouldn't be forgotten.
Since Solskjaer's arrival at United he has overseen the departure of Marouane Fellaini (then 31), Ander Herrera (30), Antonio Valencia (34), Matteo Darmian (29), Ashley Young (34) and Alexis Sanchez (31). United will hope that 30-year-olds Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo will follow them this summer.
In the permanent arrivals column is Daniel James (21 when he was signed), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (21), Harry Maguire (26) and Bruno Fernandes (25). This summer United's top target is 20-year-old Jadon Sancho, while they also retain an interest in 24-year-old Jack Grealish.
The ins and outs columns shows how Solskjaer has transformed the average age of this United squad. There might be a minor gulf of experience now, aside from Nemanja Matic, but some high-earning and under-performing older players have been jettisoned to make room for an injection of youth.
That young takeover isn't only being completed through new signings either. Solskjaer has got the best from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial and given regular first-team opportunities to academy teenagers Brandon Williams and Mason Greenwood.
Quietly, but efficiently, Solskjaer has dramatically reduced the age profile of this squad, allowing room for growth in the years to come. Last season United regularly fielded one of the youngest starting XIs in the Premier League.
Perhaps the work that Solskjaer has done in this regard will now come into sharper focus as Barcelona confront a similar, if slightly more dramatic, situation.
United's squad under Mourinho wasn't ageing to quite the extent that Barcelona's is, but the Blaugrana are facing up to an almost impossible summer, with most of the squad up for sale but many of them the wrong side of 30 and on huge salaries at the Nou Camp.
Finding buyers for some of those players is going to be incredibly difficult, especially in an era when football's finances have been shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. United may be fortunate to have shipped out some of their older players before the game's revenues took such a hit, although managing to get Alexis Sanchez's astronomical wages off the books this summer is a cause for celebration.
The ageing squad at Barcelona makes it a treacherous job to walk into, even if it is a squad that still contains Lionel Messi. It might be a hard job to turn down, but Ronald Koeman must know he has his work cut out to inject fresh legs and energy into that squad as well as being given the time to get results on the pitch. The Dutchman will most likely see any work he does in that regard only benefit the next man through the door.
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