The France international midfielder moves back to Old Trafford for a world-record fee after letting his contract expire four seasons ago but is far from the finished product.
Real Madrid and spendthrift president Florentino Perez have long taken a perverse kind of pleasure in having the most expensive player in the world on their books – whether it was Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale.
For the last 16 years, Madrid has been in possession of the most expensive player in the game. There is always a grandiose ceremony at Santiago Bernabeu with thousands of fans in attendance.