After three seasons in the wilderness, Manchester United are finally looking like box office material. Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, everything that could realistically go wrong did. United finished below the coveted UEFA Champions League positions twice in those three years. And barely made it the other time.

The aftermath of the second of those finishes outside the top four puts United in the Europa League for the 2016-17 season. This competition is perceived as the sorry cousin of the Champions League. Yet United and their executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward have managed to bring in a world class manager in Jose Mourinho and some stellar players.

The new television deal takes effect from this season and with clubs like Crystal Palace reportedly bidding £32 million for the likes of striker Christian Benteke, it was never going to be a surprise when United paid nearly three times of that amount for a midfielder. United are building a mountain of cash through sponsorship deals and Woodward has been signing a lot of cheques.

But will all that money and signing top-class talent be enough for United, who see themselves as the biggest club in England, if not the world? To live up to that role, the club needs to start winning the Premier League title regularly, and the same goes for the Champions League crown. They have brought in players who are used to competing at the top. All that is needed is for the manager to fix the pieces of the expensive jigsaw quickly.

Old squad = Unbalanced

Louis van Gaal was fired after failing to help United qualify for the Champions League. He won the FA Cup, but for a club like United, being in the top European competition year-in-year-out is very important. More importantly, United seemed to be deteriorating under van Gaal as the season progressed. There were only two standout players from last season – David de Gea and Anthony Martial.

Goalkeeper de Gea has been the best the Premier League has seen over the last four seasons. He has been acknowledged by his peers as well, being included thrice in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Team of the Season. If not for him, United could have finished mid-table. Their good defensive record was more down to his excellence than the defenders’.

Martial was United’s top goal-scorer with 11 in the league and 17 overall. At times he seemed the only way United could score, given their tepid style of football. This was the fashion till Marcus Rashford, an 18-year-old youth product, came into the fold in late February. His goals gave the United faithful something to cheer. His direct and quick running seemed to defy the rigid patterns of play that van Gaal had drilled in.

But on the whole, United were a bore to watch with captain Wayne Rooney severely out of form for most of the season. The others to have done reasonably well were defenders Chris Smalling, Daley Blind and playmaking attacking midfielder Juan Mata. United seemed short in the attacking positions and all their central midfielders lost form or were injured.

But new squad = Million dollar men

As soon as Mourinho was officially named manager, the transfer rumour mill began spinning. United moved quickly and signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer after he decided to not renew his contract with Paris Saint-Germain. Henrikh Mkhitaryan soon followed for £26 million. Star striker Ibrahimovic was the best player in the French Ligue 1 last season, and attacking midfielder Mkhitaryan was voted best player of the Bundesliga as well.

Central defender Eric Bailly was signed from Villarreal as well. The big signing for United, and of this summer, has to be Paul Pogba. He assisted 12 goals in the Serie A last season, joint-top, as Juventus strolled to the title. Pogba cost a world record £89 million. In one single summer, United bought the best players from three of the rival leagues to the Premier League. The squad has been significantly overhauled.

The transfer market is open till the end of August, and reports suggest Mourinho is still looking for a few additions. But he will have to trim the squad as it is quite large and with the focus solely on the Premier League, it will be incredibly difficult to please all the players.

The (new) United way

Many players Mourinho inherited have reputations to better. They have underperformed, and for a long time. It is easy to blame former managers David Moyes and van Gaal, but players have to take stock of their performances as well.

Larger-than-life figures like Ibrahimovic and Pogba will have a significant impact on the formerly timid dressing room. There are enough young players in the squad, like Luke Shaw, Tim Fosu-Mensah and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, to add energy and speed. From the press conferences and interviews, it seems like the whole club feels it's back on the right track.

But it is unwise to think that Mourinho can easily solve all the issues and make United the Premier League champions on the first attempt. It was as recently as December 2015 that he was fired after leading Chelsea to a disastrous start after winning the Premier League title in 2014-15.

From all the pre-season games, it still seems Rooney’s form hasn’t picked up. The captain has to find his elusive touch if he intends to keep his place in the starting eleven. Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin must up their games a few levels to justify their price tags as well.

Realistic expectations

United have not performed well for the last three seasons. It is not that easy to quickly switch the form back on. There still seems to be a bit of lethargy in the squad. Mourinho prepares his teams according to the opposition. If he feels the team needs to attack, then he will make them play accordingly. If the team needs to defend, then he will prepare them in that way.

It is said that Mourinho usually gets things right in his second season at any club. If the first is very good, then the second will be even better. This season the aim will be high, but a strong finish in the league, coupled with FA Cup and League Cup triumphs, would be deemed as a success. The Europa League does not interest Mourinho. He keeps saying that United should be in the Champions League. But he will take it seriously, so as to give his squad more chances to play.

A top-two finish in the Premier League is expected after the mass overhaul in the summer. It is not just that United have bought players for vast sums. They did that under van Gaal as well. But Mourinho’s signings genuinely seem like top class. Can they go from fifth to first in the space of one year? Leicester went from 14th to first between two Mays. United can certainly do the same.

Our prediction: Second