With the dust now settled on this summer’s European Championships, the focus now turns to transfers and although the market has been rather slow to get going, there are signs of life beginning to emerge as of late.

An emergence which has seen the first set of genuine high-profile moves take place and with Manchester United looking to build on last season’s second place finish in the Premier League, they are responsible for one of the more recent transfer headlines.

A headline which sees the protracted chase of Jadon Sancho finally come to an end and with the England international deciding to leave the city of Dortmund behind, a return to Manchester now awaits.

A return that comes around, after Sancho decided to try his luck in the Bundesliga four years ago and after switching from Manchester City’s academy to Borussia Dortmund, you would have to say that the gamble has largely paid off.

While you could also argue that it has paid off for both the player and his previous employers alike and after the German giants paid last season’s Premier League winners £8 million for the services of the man in question, they have now made a rather handsome profit.

Profit to the tune of £65m, as Manchester United eventually agreed a fee of £73million to land the now 21-year-old and although he would have suffered huge disappointment with England just a few weeks ago, a bright future certainly awaits the London born forward.

Of course, some will say that the future is already now for Sancho and with the way he has lit up both the domestic and European stages for Borussia Dortmund, he will be expected to hit the ground running at Old Trafford.

Something that he is more than capable of achieving and armed with a huge bag of attacking tricks, he will be ready to wow a new army of fans and perhaps more importantly, fans who will be allowed into stadia from the start of next season.

With United finishing some distance behind crosstown rivals and eventual Premier League winners Manchester City, there is still some work to be done in terms of returning to the pinnacle of English football and the arrival of their new ace, is something that should help their cause.

Not only that, but with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also putting pen to paper on a new contract, it does suggest that this is certainly a club which is going in the right direction and although they failed to deliver in the Europa League final last season, that should not halt their progress this time around.

Progress that will only be measured by the capture of trophies at the end of the upcoming campaign and for those looking to place a wager, there are many online betting sites in football that you can go to before the start of the season.

For those who like to put their money where their mouth is, United are currently fourth favourites and although they will undoubtedly be boosted by their new arrival, it might take a couple more additions to shorten their latest odds.

One of the departments that manager Solskjaer will look to replenish is in defence and although Harry Maguire will be ready to take his place in the middle of the back four, a more solid partner may be of massive benefit to both he and the team as a whole.

Because although there are a number of options that can be called upon, you do get the feeling that the Red Devils lack a fearsome defensive partnership and the days of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic going to war together, are a long and distant memory.

However, if United were able to land Raphael Varane before the end of the latest transfer window, it would provide the backline with a huge boost and it would allow a perfect platform, for Jadon Sancho to go forward at will.

Because for all the club’s attacking talent and it must be said there was already a lot to call upon before this latest dealing, there have been question regarding the defence and how it has a habit of undoing all the hard work at the other end of the pitch.

Now though, it will be a case of finding the right balance between both attack and defence and if this finetuning can facilitated, United could cause a fair few problems for the club they share a city with.

A look at their squad as a whole and you would have to say, they are not quite the finished article yet and although their evolution will still take a little more time, the evolution has no doubt been accelerated after finally welcoming Jadon Sancho to the red half of Manchester.