Monday evening turned out to be a very exciting one.

Having spent the weekend packing up a load of unwanted CDs and DVDs, my intention had been to contact one of those websites that buys such things.

However, I astutely held on for the transfer window.

At first I was set to sell to QPR because they were happy to take anything, with no concerns over age or wear and tear, and as I was acting as my own agent I could have picked up an additional fee as well.

But then it struck me to contact Manchester United who agreed to take everything I had – irrespective of whether they wanted it or even needed it – at about ten times the price I expected.

Okay so it is a tenuous analogy, but there must be fans at some clubs wondering just whether there is a proper plan of action in place as, once again, the closing of the transfer window was met with a rash of ridiculous spending.

And the main involvement came from those one-time champions of the homegrown product over in Salford.

Regular readers of this column will know that I do tend to revel in whatever disasters befall the Red Devils, but in this instance I do feel sympathy for some of those who were or are trying to make their way at Old Trafford.

For the likes of James Wilson, Tom Lawrence and Michael Keane, and perhaps even Danny Wellbeck despite his move to Arsenal, there has to be an element of thinking ‘what happened?’

As youngsters those players will have been sold the Old Trafford Theatre Of Dreams package believing that, just like the Class of 92, they would not only be given their chance to become United players but also probably enjoy a long and successful career at the club.

While I still find the Class of 92 irksome as it is almost impossible to find a television station that doesn’t employ some football pundit who still refers to United as ‘we’, it is impossible not to be impressed by just what Eric Harrison and Sir Alex Ferguson achieved in generating some stunning talent from their youth ranks.

While it has always been the case at United that some starlets didn’t make it – though at least Robbie Savage doesn’t call United ‘we’ on the telly, saving that honour for Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City – for those who failed to make the grade they were generally ousted by peers they could directly compete with.

Sadly for the likes of Lawrence, Wilson and Keane their place in the pecking order has been ruined at the hands of expensive imports, and they have been left with the option to either fight it out or find somewhere else to further their career.

As a City fan I have to admit there was always a certain amount of jealousy that United enjoyed so much success for so long with a team drawn from their youth ranks – with a significant number of them from the Greater Manchester area.

Even when cash was tighter City would gamble on a signing or two.

In 2007 Sven-Goran Eriksson bagged Rolando Bianchi for £8.8m, along with midfielders Gelson Fernandes, Geovanni, Martin Petrov and Elano, and defenders Vedran Corluka and Javier Garrido under the Thaksin ‘Frank’ Shinawatra regime.

And when money was no object a year later it took a while to sort out how to spend it sensibly, with the acquisition of Robinho for £33m from Real Madrid the start of a spree of splashing out without too much thought as to the needs of the squad.

While some United fans may dispute this, the window that has just closed appears to me to have cast the Old Trafford club of 2014 very much in the mould of City at the same stage of the season back in 2008.

Arguably the main departures from Old Trafford recently have been Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, key players despite the fact they were all into the twilights of their careers.

They have been replaced by Angel di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw, and while that is all very exciting, there doesn’t appear to be an experienced defender among them.

Even in fantasy football leagues you are required to spend some money on your defence and it will be interesting to see just where Louis van Gaal’s purchases will take the club.

It might just turn out to be the most fantastic over-spend of all time – which would at least put a smile on the face a few rejected youth teamers who used to ply their trade at Carrington.