As Louis van Gaal’s permanent successor is set to finally take the reins down at Old Trafford ahead of the 2016/17 campaign, with a succession of high profile stars subsequently being linked with the Red Devils in light of Jose Mourinho’s probable induction at the club, the upcoming summer transfer window could serve to make or break Manchester United in the not too distant future.

One player who seemingly won’t be joining up with the Red Devils in the Premier League next season, however, arrives in the form of Borussia Dortmund’s World Cup winning defender Mats Hummels – who is keen on making an illustrious switch to Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich, as soon as possible.

So then, after being linked with the 27-year-old centre-back in almost every recent transfer window, will Manchester United regret failing to land Hummels, or have Van Gaal’s current outfit actually dodged a rather significant bullet?

Well, although the long-term Bundesliga favourite would have admittedly set the Red Devils back quite a bit financially, no one could suggest that the powerful German defender isn’t worthy of his current status upon the global scene.

Although the 27-year-old has failed to perform to the very best of his abilities since Joachim Low’s formidable Germany outfit successfully claimed the 2014 World Cup in Brazil two summers ago, there is ultimately no doubting this man’s ability when push really comes to shove.

Via his intelligent reading of the game, impressive positioning and organisational skills across the entire back-line and his equally creditable prowess in the tackle, this is one player most Premier League teams certainly wouldn’t turn away in a hurry.

Although Manchester United’s defensive record in 2015/16 has been far from disastrous within the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t take much to notice just how important a player of Mats Hummels' class would have undoubtedly proven down at Old Trafford next season.

The likes of Daley Blind, Chris Smalling and Michael Carrick – when tasked with plying his trade at centre-back for the Red Devils – have all performed admirably enough throughout the current domestic campaign, but do any of the aforementioned defensive options really represent something close to a world class combination in the cold light of day? Absolutely not…

With major question-marks also surrounding the capabilities of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo, Manchester United arguably need to source themselves a well-recognised centre-back sooner rather than later, or potentially endure yet another frustrating slide down the Premier League table.

The Red Devils’ loss will nonetheless prove Bayern Munich’s gain within all of this, however, for despite both traditionally successful sides sharing a similar reputation in terms of overall fan-base and recent history, the formidable Bundesliga outfit clearly represent a vastly superior team to Man United right in the here and now – which is obviously telling in Hummels’ recent decision regarding his upcoming future…

So then, although Louis van Gaal’s current outfit can still theoretically source themselves a fine defensive replacement to step in and do the business down at Old Trafford next term, Manchester United would have certainly benefitted from the presence of Mats Hummels on board, and do indeed look to have missed out considerably in this particular instance.