Manchester United's season of peaks and troughs reached a new low on Thursday evening, with the Red Devils crashing out of the Europa League following a dismal, 3-0 defeat at the hands of La Liga strugglers Sevilla.
Having already edged past Barcelona and Real Betis in the previous two knockout rounds, United's meeting with the Andalusian outfit proved a step too far, as they merely capitulated against a side who sit a lowly 13th in the Spanish top-flight.
That grim performance – amid a season that has been littered with shambolic showings away to the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Brentford – has only served to further showcase that Erik ten Hag has a way to go before truly turning the club into a competitive outfit once again, both in Europe and in the Premier League.
That shock defeat to the six-time winners of the competition has also raised "long-term questions" surrounding a handful of the players who started in Seville, according to journalist Laurie Whitwell, with the attacking duo of Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial among those facing an uncertain future at Old Trafford heading into the summer window.
As The Guardian's Jamie Jackson also revealed following that continental collapse, the £600k-per-week pairing are "under threat" with regard to their position at the club, with the respected journalist stating in his attached piece that the two men could be part of a mass squad exodus ahead of next season.
While clearly not the only figures to potentially be facing the axe, the possible exits of Sancho and Martial could represent the ruthlessness that has so often been lacking in recent years at the Theatre of Dreams, with the club routinely hanging on to players for far too long – Phil Jones being a case in point.
If Ten Hag is to lead the Carabao Cup winners to bigger heights next season, then the misfiring forwards should seemingly be among the first to be forced to walk the plank…
Will Martial be sold this summer?
In the case of Martial, the polarising Frenchman appears to have outstayed his welcome in Manchester, with it approaching almost eight years since the former Monaco man was snapped up on an initial £36m deal by Louis van Gaal back in 2015.
It had, of course, been a terrific start for the then-youngster in English football as he bagged 18 goals in all competitions in his debut campaign, memorably making his mark on debut with a fantastic solo goal against bitter rivals, Liverpool.
The commentary of Sky Sports' Martin Tyler during that goal will live long in the memory of United supporters, although significant time has passed since that stunning entrance at Old Trafford, with it difficult to say whether the striker's time at the club has ever got any better than that goalscoring bow.
Although the 30-cap enigma did enjoy a standout 2019/20 campaign in which he bagged 23 goals across all fronts, that has been something of an anomaly rather than the norm, with the £250k-per-week man having notably netted just nine Premier League goals since the start of the 2020/21 season.
For a club of United's stature to still be reliant on such an inconsistent goalscoring presence as their leading number nine is rather bizarre, with it easy to see why Ten Hag is said to be open to selling the fleet-footed dud this summer.
While the Dutchman has conceded that his side play their "best football" with Martial leading the line, the injury-prone asset has simply been unable to get on the pitch often enough, having made just 20 appearances across all fronts this term amid a stop-start campaign.
Albeit unfortunate, the sight of the marksman limping off yet again in Seville would have had the away supporters tearing their hair out, with the 5 foot 11 hotshot having only recently made his return from a lengthy injury layoff.
As club legend Paul Scholes noted, it would appear that Martial "doesn't quite have the heart for it" when the "going gets tough", with it time for Ten Hag to do what other managers could not and show the long-serving dud the door.
Will Sancho be at Man United next season?
As for fellow forward, Sancho, the Englishman made an even earlier departure from the pitch in midweek, with the 23-year-old having been hooked at half-time in place of the returning Marcus Rashford.
That unceremonious withdrawal marked what was yet another lifeless performance from the Borussia Dortmund man in the red jersey, with the £73m man having looked 'nowhere near sharp enough', according to the Independent's Jamie Braidwood.
In truth, such an anonymous performance has been what United have come to expect from the £350k-per-week man during his time at the club to date, having now scored just ten goals and provided only five assists in 69 games across all fronts.
That grim record comes despite Sancho having blossomed during his prior stint in Germany after providing 114 goal involvements in just 137 games for the Bundesliga side, having been hailed by former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the time of his capture as an asset who "will form an integral part of my squad for years to come".
By the start of next season, neither Solskjaer nor Sancho could be at the club as the Norwegian's predication has well and truly not panned out, with recent reports suggesting that Ten Hag is now growing 'increasingly impatient' with the winger's lack of impact.
Despite having been afforded time away from the first team earlier this season in order to get himself physically and mentally ready for the second half of the campaign, the 23-cap dud has hardly pulled up any trees since his return, having totalled just five goals and two assists so far this season.
While unlike Martial the London-born trickster has not had as long to prove his worth in a United shirt, it is hard to see where he fits in the long-term plan, with Ten Hag said to favour Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho on the left flank, while £86m arrival, Antony, looks set to be the first-choice pick on the opposite wing.
As pundit Jamie Carragher brutally noted following the loss to Sevilla, the latter man appears to have "done more in six months than Sancho has in two years", with that a further indication of the one-time Manchester City youth product's inability to perform.
Although the once-promising talent still has plenty of years ahead of him to turn things around, the Red Devils don't appear to have the time to wait for the former Dortmund sensation to get back to his best.
As the Old Trafford outfit have learned with the case of Martial, holding out hope on a player based on what they have previously done in the game is folly.
In truth, continued faith in the Frenchman has grown to become something of a disaster, with United needing to avoid making the same mistake with the underwhelming Sancho.