Manuel Almunia had been part of New Manchester United's story almost from the beginning.
Yet many of the club's newer supporters barely knew him.
He never attracted headlines, never courted controversy and never behaved like a celebrity footballer. He arrived at Newton Heath on time, trained properly, fulfilled every obligation expected of him and went home when the day's work was finished.
His life away from football was equally understated.
Almunia lived with his family in a modest rented flat arranged through the club rather than in one of the enormous houses associated with Premier League stars. He dressed simply. The Audi he drove came through the club's sponsorship agreement, and beyond that he had almost no personal commercial deals.
Even his agent rarely appeared.
There were no public complaints about playing time, no anonymous briefings to newspapers and no interviews in which he demanded a transfer. His representative generally appeared at the club offices only when New Manchester United themselves initiated discussions about a new contract or improved terms.
In many ways, Almunia had almost disappeared from public view.
Even devoted supporters could attend match after match without paying much attention to the quiet figure sitting near one end of the substitutes' bench. Unless Čech was injured, rested or playing elsewhere, Almunia's contribution on matchday often amounted to warming up and then returning to his seat.
Yet this was a player who had once helped the club through some of the most important years of its rise.
When Ethan finally announced Almunia's departure, he did something he had never done before.
He wrote the farewell himself.
The article appeared on New Manchester United's official website.
"He may never have been our biggest star, but he has been one of the finest professionals this club has ever had," Ethan wrote. "We owe Manuel our gratitude for everything he has given us, and I hope our supporters never forget that a player like him was part of this club."
Ethan went further.
"It has been six years since I first spoke to Manuel. I still remember the young man I met then. Six years later, he is twenty-eight, married to a wonderful Spanish woman, with a family of his own. I have visited their home, and what struck me most was how warm and ordinary it felt."
"Those six years matter."
"Manuel gave us some of the most valuable years of his career. He remained loyal when he was not first choice. He trained properly when nobody was watching. He supported teammates who were competing for the position he wanted. He behaved like a professional every single day."
Then Ethan explained how the transfer had happened.
"When Arsène Wenger called me, my first instinct was to say no."
"Manuel is family to us. I did not like the idea of someone who had shared so much with this club returning one day in an opponent's shirt."
"But Arsène asked me a simple question. Was it fair for Manuel to spend the best years of his career sitting behind Petr Čech when Arsenal were prepared to make him their goalkeeper?"
That question had changed Ethan's mind.
"I had no good answer."
"We owe Manuel too much to ask him to sacrifice his career simply because we would rather keep him close."
"If I had asked him to stay, I believe he would have stayed."
"That was precisely why I refused to ask."
New Manchester United would not demand a transfer fee.
Arsenal could sign Almunia at the end of the season for nothing.
Ethan explained the decision directly.
"Money should not be the point of this transfer."
"Manuel has already given this club more than enough. Asking Arsenal to put a price on six years of loyalty would feel wrong."
"We live in a football world where almost0 everything is given a value. Sometimes it is worth remembering that not everything should be."
Before agreeing to the move, Ethan had spoken at length with Wenger.
He wanted to know exactly what Arsenal intended to do with Almunia.
Wenger assured him that the Spaniard would be given a genuine opportunity to establish himself as Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper and become the long-term answer to the problems they had experienced with Lehmann.
Only then did Ethan agree.
Even after that, he insisted on telling Almunia himself.
"When I called Manuel, I expected him to be pleased."
"He wasn't."
"He cried."
"Not because he was unhappy about Arsenal. Not because he doubted the opportunity. He cried because leaving this club hurt."
"Eventually he told me he wanted to go. He wanted the chance to play regularly at the highest level and to make his career feel complete."
"But he also told me he would never forget this club."
"I made him one promise. The door here will always be open."
"If one day he wants to come back, he will always have a home at New Manchester United."
"And that promise is not only for Manuel. It is for everyone who has genuinely given something to this club."
The column created an unexpectedly emotional reaction.
Almunia had almost never been featured prominently by the media.
Even New Manchester United's own publicity department rarely focused on him.
Čech had become first choice and never really relinquished the position. Almunia appeared in selected cup matches, during rotation and when the Czech goalkeeper was unavailable.
Yet he never complained.
Not once.
That mattered to his teammates.
When journalists began asking around Newton Heath, the response was unanimous.
Almunia was respected.
Trusted.
Liked.
Čech was among the first to praise him.
"People assume a goalkeeper who isn't playing must be unhappy all the time," he said. "Manuel never made the dressing room feel that way."
"His ability has never been the issue. He's good enough to play for Arsenal and good enough to play for many top clubs."
Mourinho offered a similar assessment.
"Ethan described it very well."
"Manuel is not a great star because he does not live like one and the newspapers do not write about him every week."
"But he is a great player."
"He has been ready whenever we needed him, and that is much harder than people understand."
"He can play at a very high level. Arsenal are getting an excellent goalkeeper and an even better professional."
Almunia was deeply moved by the reaction.
During his own interview, he struggled to keep his composure.
"This was not an easy decision," he said. "I am leaving because I want to play more, not because I want to leave New Manchester United."
"I will always support this club."
"Even if I come back one day wearing another shirt, I will never think of myself as an enemy."
"If I play here for Arsenal, of course I will do my job. I will try to stop every shot. I owe Arsenal that professionalism."
"But in my heart, this club will always be part of my life."
The supporters understood.
The official fan association publicly supported the free transfer and backed Ethan's decision not to ask Arsenal for a fee.
Its chairman summed up the mood simply.
"If Manuel comes back here with Arsenal, he will be applauded."
"He gave us too much for anything else."
"He will always be welcome home."
For all the hostility that had developed between New Manchester United and Arsenal in recent seasons, the transfer became one of those rare football stories both sets of supporters could appreciate.
Arsenal were getting a goalkeeper they badly needed.
New Manchester United were allowing a respected servant to pursue the career he deserved.
And Almunia was leaving without bitterness on either side.
In an era increasingly dominated by transfer fees, agents, image rights and contract disputes, there was something refreshingly uncomplicated about it.
Mourinho wanted to give him a proper farewell.
After New Manchester United won 2-0 away at Crystal Palace in the 37th league round, attention turned to the final match of the season.
Manchester United were coming to New Manchester United's stadium for another Red Devil derby.
The fixture was also being treated as a useful rehearsal for the upcoming FA Cup final.
By then, the Premier League title had already slipped beyond New Manchester United's reach. Chelsea's 1-0 win away at Charlton the previous day had settled the championship.
That reduced the competitive importance of the derby.
Emotionally, however, the match mattered enormously.
Mourinho named Almunia in goal.
The stadium was full.
Banners thanking the Spaniard appeared throughout the stands.
Some were simple.
Some recalled particular saves from earlier seasons.
Others merely carried his name.
Almunia looked close to tears before kick-off.
Then the match began, and professionalism took over.
He played extremely well.
If Wenger wanted reassurance about the goalkeeper he was bringing to Arsenal, he received it.
New Manchester United won 2-0.
Kaká scored one.
Drogba scored the other.
Manchester United's difficult season ended with another defeat against their local rivals.
The result left Ferguson's side fourth, behind Arsenal, but still inside the Champions League places.
Their problems off the pitch were even larger.
Shortly after the match, the Glazer family confirmed that they had completed their takeover of Manchester United.
For many supporters, it felt like the final defeat in a struggle they had spent months trying to prevent.
Protests had continued.
Demonstrations had grown.
Supporters had marched, boycotted and demanded that the club remain independent.
It had not been enough.
One of English football's most commercially successful institutions now sat under an ownership structure many fans feared would turn it into a vehicle for debt and financial extraction.
At Old Trafford, anger and heartbreak continued long after the season ended.
New Manchester United faced a much smaller problem, but one Mourinho still considered important.
They needed another goalkeeper.
Once Almunia's departure had been agreed, Ethan and Mourinho began discussing who should back up Čech next season.
Finding an excellent first-choice goalkeeper could be easier than finding the right number two.
The role demanded a peculiar mentality.
The player had to be good enough to step into a Champions League or Premier League match without damaging the team.
At the same time, he had to accept that Čech was first choice.
That combination was difficult to find.
Newton Heath had several promising young goalkeepers coming through the academy, but Ethan disliked the idea of leaving one of them on the bench for an entire season.
An outfield player could still develop through rotation.
Ribéry, Villa and Fàbregas could make twenty or thirty appearances without being permanent starters.
Goalkeepers were different.
There was only one position.
If Čech remained healthy, his deputy might barely play.
Ethan preferred sending talented young goalkeepers somewhere they could start every week.
For New Manchester United's bench, an experienced veteran made more sense.
Mourinho agreed.
If the right player could not be found, they would use one of the academy keepers.
But that was Plan B.
The scouting department produced several possibilities.
One of the most obvious was Chelsea's Carlo Cudicini.
The Italian had barely played since Timo Hildebrand established himself as Ancelotti's first choice.
Cudicini had made only a handful of appearances all season and was increasingly open to leaving Stamford Bridge.
New Manchester United's scouts made contact.
Cudicini was interested.
The club's profile had never been higher, and joining the newly crowned Champions League finalists was hardly unattractive.
Then came the complication.
Cudicini wanted the opportunity to compete seriously with Čech for the number-one shirt.
New Manchester United ended the talks almost immediately.
That was not what they were looking for.
Signing a goalkeeper who expected an open competition with Čech would create unnecessary instability in a position where Mourinho wanted absolute clarity.
Cudicini was too ambitious to accept being a permanent deputy.
That did not make him a problem player.
It simply made him the wrong fit.
Other names were considered.
Some refused the idea of being second choice.
Others were not considered good enough.
A few inspired too little confidence for a role that might suddenly become crucial if Čech were injured during an important run of matches.
The search became frustrating.
Then Mark Davey walked into a meeting with an idea nobody had expected.
He proposed a goalkeeper who, in sporting terms, could provide exactly the experienced depth Mourinho wanted.
Commercially, the signing offered something else entirely.
Davey smiled as he put the name forward.
If it worked, New Manchester United could solve two problems with one deal.
(To be continued.)