The Theatre of Dreams failed to deliver a show-stopper last season, in fact scarcely receiving even a smattering of applause from the devoted swathes of Manchester United support, who were incensed by a chastening year of misfortune and instability.

This year, under the fresh tutelage of Erik ten Hag, the Red Devils have already clinched the Carabao Cup, the club's first slice of silverware since the 2017/18 season, and have reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the Europa League, pursuing glory once again.

Several high-profile signings were made last summer to instigate the change, with Casemiro signing from Real Madrid for £70m and fleet-footed winger Antony and tenacious titan Lisandro Martinez both arriving from Ajax for £86m and £57m respectively.

The latter has been a revelation in tidying up a lacklustre defence, though progress still certainly needs to be made considering United have shipped seven goals to Liverpool, six goals to Manchester City and four goals to Brentford, all on singular occasions.

With the likes of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof now peripheral figures at Old Trafford, having been ousted for the aforementioned Martinez and Raphael Varane, Ten Hag might look to ship the duo on, and instead of parting with exorbitant fees once again, delving into the youth ranks might be the most auspicious route to success.

Does Maguire have a future at Man United?

Maguire has failed to live up to the £80m price tag at Man United, finally falling out of favour having made just five starting appearances in the Premier League this term and facing an onerous task in climbing back into contention for a regular starting berth in Ten Hag's ambitious stratagems.

With this in mind, the powers that be would be wise to unleash youngster Will Fish in his stead, if the 29-year-old gets shipped on in the summer; the 20-year-old centre-back impressed during his formative years at Carrington, and is now excelling out on loan at Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership, hailed as "outstanding" by the club's women's captain Joelle Murray.

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As per Sofascore, the ace has recorded an impressive average rating of 7.09 thus far, scoring two goals from just nine starts and completing 75% of his passes, making 1.4 interceptions and a remarkable 5.2 clearances per match.

The "brilliant" Fish, as once heralded by Craig Fowler, has also won 71% of his aerial duels, and this is where the parallels between the defender and Maguire become more clearly discernible.

Maguire is an imposing 6 foot 4 colossus, and his aerial prowess is the foundation of his positive defensive attributes, having made an average of 3.3 successful aerial contests throughout his career, also an adept sweeper of danger in making 3.9 clearances per game, as per WhoScored.

Given that the 53-cap England international collects a salary of £190k-per-week and is now a utility figure at best, unleashing Fish would not only save United millions on an expensive new addition but also sharply cut the wage bill down, providing the established defensive pairing with a fresh and exciting new understudy to develop into a frightening force.