When a player who's part of a squad that wins a European trophy in 2017 is struggling to find a club at the age of 27 eight years later, something's probably gone awry.
Manchester United are heading to the Europa League final in Bilbao this week hoping to continue their post-Ferguson ability to collect silverware with reasonable regularity even as their star is fading.
If Ruben Amorim's Red Devils can overcome an equally hapless Tottenham Hotspur side in Wednesday's final, they will win their first European trophy since coming out on top in the same competition under Jose Mourinho eight years ago.
Advert
Despite the evidence of future history, Mourinho's team for the final, a 2-0 win over Ajax in Stockholm, wasn't without its talents.
United's starting line-up featured Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata. Ander Herrera has his fans at Old Trafford. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Daley Blind and Matteo Darmian have all enjoyed impressive careers away from United.
The Red Devils' bench at the Friends Arena against a team boasting Andre Onana and Matthijs de Ligt among its starters, was something to behold.
Advert
Listed along with David De Gea, Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial was 19-year-old defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
He never made it onto the pitch for what would have been an emotional triumph.
Amsterdam-born Fosu-Mensah was at the end of his first full senior season as a United player after joining their youth ranks from Ajax in 2014.
He'd been given his first start by then-manager Louis van Gaal against Watford in March 2016 and his compatriot was positive about his performance.
Advert
"Watford pressed us very high and we gave the ball away. Because of that they had several chances," said Mourinho's predecessor.
"But Timothy has saved us three times I think because of his speed and I was very pleased he was on the pitch. I let him stay on the pitch in the second half because we was the player who always closed the door for us."
Loans to Crystal Palace and Fulham followed in the two seasons after United's Europa League win and the injury issues that opened the door for him at United transferred to his own destiny.
Advert
He played just 16 Premier League games for Man Utd before signing for Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window in 2021.
Named in the squad just seven times and never playing a minute, Fosu-Mensah had to look in from the outside as Xabi Alonso guided Leverkusen to historic, invincible Bundesliga success last season and successive serious knee injuries have decimated the last six years of his career.
He was released last summer and has been unable to secure a new club ever since.
As well as a training spell with Jong Ajax, Fosu-Mensah underwent a trial with Cesc Fabregas and Serie A side Como at the start of this season. It came to nothing.
Advert
At 27, Fosu-Mensah is no lost cause.
But he is a reminder that football can be a short career and is played by human beings even at the very highest levels.
It's worth your da remembering that next time he's caught on camera in a red-faced rage spitting insults at a player half his age just for taking a corner.
Topics: Europa League, Man Utd, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen
Chris Nee