Guillermo Varela was Alex Ferguson's 'parting gift' to Manchester United

One of the few positives from this season has been the form of young Uruguayan right-back Guillermo Varela, who has coped admirably after being thrown into the Manchester United first team in the long-term absences of both Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian. Some may well have suggested it was further evidence that David Moyes wasn't so bad after all: when Varela arrived from Montevideo giants Peñarol in the summer of 2013, he was billed as the Scot's first signing.

However, there was an interesting footnote in Mark Ogden's column in the Independent yesterday, in which he revealed that Varela was actually Sir Alex Ferguson's "parting gift" to United. He apparently acted "upon the recommendation of chief scout Jim Lawlor to sign the youngster" for £2.4 million. Ogden also rather optimistically claims that there are "some hoping he can become as consistent and reliable as former captain Gary Neville." We very much hope that is the case, but it's a little premature for now.

So, no thanks Moyes, and thanks very much Fergie; it's just a pity you didn't bother to replace everyone else before you went.