Stunning news from Bavaria. Despite everything — despite the photos of David Moyes talking to agents; the stories of the player having said goodbye to his friends; the rumoured £40m fee and £200k/week wages; the fervid dreams of a fanbase desperate for a midfielder who can pass and shoot without falling over — it appears that Manchester United have accepted that their chances of signing Toni Kroos are “remote”.

At least, that’s according to the Guardian‘s Jamie Jackson. Apparently, Kroos will either stay with Bayern Munich, or will leave and find himself the centre of a gaggle of clubs, each desperately honking to get his attention. And in such a gaggle, poor Champions League-less United would find it difficult to emerge triumphant.

So there we are. For us, two choices remain. The first is to perform the compulsory mental adjustment needed for all such disappointments: “not sure he was the right player anyway”; “didn’t really see what all the fuss was about”; “that price would have been too much”; “who ends their name with an ‘i’ anyway?”. Alternatively, wait until next week, when the move will almost certainly be back on.