One day, perhaps this coming season or perhaps the season after, United will realise Cristiano Ronaldo was irreplaceable.
Although £80million in the bank softens the most painful blow, Ronaldo was as close to a priceless asset as any footballer can get.
This could well be the end of an era for United. They have lost key players before such as Roy Keane, David Beckham and Eric Cantona, and suffered a blip before they rebuilt under Sir Alex Ferguson but Ronaldo is the best player in the world, bar none.
We may have baulked at his diving in his early days, been put off by his petulance and preening and decried his air of arrogance but it is a simple fact that, whoever United splash out on to replace Ronaldo this summer, they will be a lesser side without him.
Who will come in? Franck Ribery? David Silva? Good players, sure, but not at Ronaldo's level, nowhere near.
Dribbling, shooting, passing, heading, free-kicks - and what free-kicks - he really has it all.
What about those who are almost at his level, such as Lionel Messi, or Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Kaka, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Michael Essien and Cesc Fabregas?
Barcelona will not sell their best players, even for £80million, for that would be tantamount to suicide, especially with the return of the galacticos era to Real Madrid.
As for the others: Kaka has just been signed by Real; Liverpool fans would storm the Anfield barricades if any move were made to sell Torres or Gerrard to United; Chelsea are so rich - still - that they do not have to sell anybody; and if Fabregas is going to go anywhere it would be back to Barcelona, not Manchester.
As Manchester City are finding out, you can have the biggest bank balance in the game but there is a limited supply of truly world-class players out there.
This was of course Ronaldo's decision too and though his previous overt flirting with Real Madrid had diminished of late, to many that was merely a sign that this time he really did want to go.
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