Jordi Cruyff did not achieve as expected when he played for Manchester United, but the former winger should be credited for identifying a trend which troubles his compatriots to this day.
Cruyff, who moved to Manchester from Barcelona in 1996, was baffled that United encouraged him to live in the wealthy suburbs of Cheshire “in huge houses with elderly people for neighbours”.
Like 90 per cent of those raised in Spain, he grew up amid the hustle and bustle of city life. He missed that so much in Manchester that he would frequently return to the family home in Barcelona, even if only for a day.
Two decades on and little has changed. When Ander Herrera joined United last summer from Athletic Bilbao, he was shown some of Cheshire’s most palatial properties. He turned them all down and opted for a more modest apartment sufficient for himself, his girlfriend and their dog, but, unfamiliar with his new home, it was still far from cultural hub in the city centre. That will change soon.
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Herrera was this week linked with a move to Barcelona, but United fans need not fear. He is loving life in England’s north-west, and the only move he wants is to a city centre apartment where he can enjoy Manchester life at its fullest.
Besides, while Barca came in for him with an offer which was laughed out of Bilbao three years ago, they are unable to sign players this year because of a transfer ban. They also do not know who the club president will be after the June elections, and any talk of signings is speculative.
Herrera has been a success since his €36 million (Dh140m) transfer from Bilbao, and he is showing his best form right now, when it matters most.
He was frustrated, as any player would be, by his lack of opportunities and played just 225 Premier League minutes between the Liverpool match in December and the defeat at Swansea City 11 games later.
Yet he remained delighted to be at United and blown away by the size of the club. He has embraced life in England, already speaks decent English and is finding Anglo-Saxon football culture to be as rich as he expected.
Though born in Bilbao, his formative years were spent in Zaragoza and his heart remains close to the region of Aragon. It hurt him when he saw his former club being run into the ground and he said so publicly, as he did when he saw what he considered to be the unfair and decentralised Spanish television contracts for football.
Not for him some meek clichés about being fair to the lads and taking each game as it comes. He understands football culture not only because he grew up into it with his father doing several jobs from playing to technical director, but because he himself stood on the terraces with the ultras of Zaragoza.
He lists the greatest night of his life as watching the club he supports beating Real Madrid in the 2003 Copa del Rey final in Barcelona, but he has no intention of moving to Catalonia to recreate a new life for himself there.
Herrera, 25, is looking to make a long-term impact at United, and by the time the next Liverpool game came around three weeks ago, he showed why he could be key to any future Old Trafford successes.
His delightful pass for Juan Mata’s first goal in front of the Kop was exactly what manager Louis Van Gaal, who has an aversion to players running with a football, had demanded of him. When he scored twice in his next game against Aston Villa last week, he even got a kiss off his manager for his troubles.
Herrera has been popular with United fans from the start, chiefly because they see someone who gives everything to the team. In recent weeks, they have seen him close to his best.
The attacking midfielder did not get off the bench in the first Manchester derby of the season, but he was enthralled by the intensity on and off the pitch as United were defeated 1-0.
Such has been his recent progress, in which he has played 758 of United’s past 765 minutes in the league, it would be a surprise if he even saw the bench in the return derby at Old Trafford this afternoon.
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