Before the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season began, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was given the expectation of getting United back into the UEFA Champions League.
That was all but secured on Sunday as Liverpool drew 1-1 at Chelsea, leaving the Reds six points behind United with two matches left to play and United having a vastly superior goal differential. Now, all eyes will turn to next season, when van Gaal will be expected to deliver a title challenge.
All season, United have made a habit of winning ugly and have not consistently delivered the type of football van Gaal or the fans have wanted. Yet, United have now won seven of their last ten matches and have played really well in victories over Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City. Although hopes of a late title push were ended with a succession of losses to Chelsea, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, United have achieved the target set to them at the beginning of the season: finishing in the top four.
With the ability to offer Champions League football and massive wages, they will realistically feel that they can sign nearly any player they want to this summer. They've been linked all season with half a dozen world class players, and various transfer sagas will dominate the back pages for the coming months.
United have already secured the signing of Dutch winger Memphis Depay, the top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie this season. Depay burst onto the world stage last summer while at the World Cup, and he will be hoping that working with Van Gaal again will continue his development into a superb player. The young winger has been compared with Cristiano Ronaldo, and United fans will be hoping he develops along a similar timeline.
The Depay signing, valued at between £25-30 million, is expected to kick off another big spending period. Some tabloids have projected they could spend as much as £200 million, and reinforcements are expected to pour in at center back, center midfield and right back. With this in mind, can supporters expect a title challenge next term? While that is not guaranteed, they can be certain to enjoy European nights again.
That may have been the thing that was missed most this year. Not the need to feel as though the team were dining at Europe's top table, but just because there are few things in the world like a proper European night at Old Trafford. Although David Moyes' brief reign felt interminable, he did deliver one of United's greatest nights ever: the 3-0 comeback victory over Olympiakos in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16. Robin Van Persie's hat trick will never be forgotten, and supporters will be dreaming of a return to nights like these.
Although they will have to go through the final qualification stage before the group stage begins, the prospect of the Stretford End arising against a Real Madrid, a Bayern Munich or Juventus means that they cannot wait for next term to begin. So, farewell to the 2014/15 season. Here's to the next one, and (hopefully) a return to being the pre-eminent force in English football.