How many times in the last few years have Manchester United signed a player who could conceivably stroll straight into the starting XI of Real Madrid or Barcelona? Bruno Fernandes, certainly. The brilliant Portuguese would walk into any team on the planet. It is no secret, meanwhile, that Real Madrid are big admirers of Leny Yoro, the jewell in Ineos’ crown thus far. You could make a case for Lisandro Martinez too, arguably the finest left-sided centre-half on the planet when fit and ferocious. But the tally, realistically, stops at three. Or, at least, it did until Matthijs de Ligt completed …