Coming just a day after Chelsea announced the signing of Eden Hazard, the timing of Manchester United's confirmation they had struck a deal for Shinji Kagawa yesterday lent itself to suggestions that the Japan star was very much a Plan B for Sir Alex Ferguson.
Certainly Hazard told everyone that his choice boiled down to United or Chelsea, while subsequent reports have claimed United were left furious by the Belgium international's decision to move to a posh abode in Cobham rather than the leafy surrounds of Alderley Edge.
However, even given these circumstances, it would be very wrong indeed to label Kagawa as some kind of consolation prize for United. Certainly they were not his second-choice: the midfielder has sought for some time to make his mark in England and at United in particular. As Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said recently: "We cannot take away Shinji's childhood and his Japanese culture. Where Shinji was born our league means nothing — there is only the English Premier League."
While the player himself must be thrilled at his move, the arrival on English shores of the Japan playmaker - who helped inspire Dortmund to the Bundesliga title in 2010-11 and then a double in 2011-12 - is also a genuinely exciting development for all those who follow football in this country.
Fleet of foot, fluid in his movement and fluent in his passing, Kagawa is every inch the modern playmaker, his versatility lending him the ability to play anywhere across the line of three that will presumably sit behind Wayne Rooney next season.
Though Hazard was indisputably the best player in the French league last season, Kagawa was arguably the most dangerous attacker in a superior league in the Bundesliga. Indeed, his stats were superior to even Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, two figures who possess a much greater public profile, for now at least.
Kagawa scored 17 goals and claimed 13 assists in all competitions last season to better the stats of the two Bayern stars. In a further indication of his thrilling style, only German wunderkind Mario Goetze tried to take on his man more than Kagawa in the Dortmund team last season.
He will supply the creativity and unpredictability that has been sorely missing from the United side for a few years now, and certainly since the front three that previously boasted Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo disassembled. If, as expected, he drops in behind Rooney in a number 10 role, he should provide United with far more penetration than they have been used to of late.
As Koki Harada of Tokyo Chunichi Sports told United's website yesterday: "United have no similar players. He's a bit like Samir Nasri or Luka Modric and creates lots of chances, but scores more goals than either of them. His best position is just behind the striker, where he played at Dortmund, but he can also play on the left, though he's not the quickest of players. I can see Sir Alex tinkering with his formation to play him in a 4-3-2-1."
United have lacked this kind of player for some time. Having tried so hard and failed to sign Wesley Sneijder last summer they tried to kid themselves that Tom Cleverley was the answer, only to be left disappointed by his injury problems and being forced to coax Paul Scholes out of retirement in an effort to add some genuine threat to the centre of their midfield.
In fact, it is arguable that United haven't had this sort of player since Scholes in his goalscoring pomp - a prospect that should enthuse all United supporters turned off by the less spectacular contributions of Anderson and Michael Carrick in recent seasons. Put simply, the energetic and exciting playmaker should, in theory, add a whole new dimension to United's play next season.
That is why it has proven particularly disappointing to witness from some corners a cynical reaction to his imminent arrival at Old Trafford. As ever when a player from East Asia arrives in the Premier League there are those who seek to paint it as a marketing ploy, an opportunity to flog more shirts in a growing foreign market.
Okay, so United do have form in this regard - remember China's Dong Fangzhuo, recipient of the most undeserved guard of honour in Premier League history when he strolled out at Stamford Bridge on the penultimate day of the 2006-07 season? He made a grand total of three appearances in four-and-a-half years.
But when Sir Alex Ferguson played Park Ji-sung in the 2009 Champions League final it wasn't a strategic ploy to increase United's market share of replica shirts in South Korea, it was because the midfielder deserved to play.
Though Kagawa will of course increase United's presence in Japan and will be followed by a gang of dozens of reporters from his homeland at every game he plays, he too should be judged on his own merits, and there are plenty of those.
He might not be Eden Hazard, but Kagawa is one of the best players in one of Europe's elite leagues and - a detail surely not overlooked by the Glazers - cost just half the price.
To describe him as a Plan B would be an insult. He is every inch a Grade A player.
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