Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has made reclaiming the Premier League title “priority number one”.
With the waves of the Indian Ocean crashing within earshot and the sun blazing out of a blue sky seldom seen in a soggy British summer even though it is winter in Durban, South Africa, it seemed a world away from the travails of an arduous championship campaign.
Yet, the manner of last year’s crushing disappointment; two Manchester City goals in injury-time, the last of which came after the final whistle had gone on United’s season, has meant what lies ahead has never been far from Ferguson’s mind.
So, it was that, ahead of the first of six pre-season matches, against South African mid-table outfit AmaZulu, Ferguson laid bare his vision for the next 10 months.
“After the disappointment of last year, we want to recover the title,” he said.
“We either win the title or come second, it’s an important part of the history of our club over the last 20 years.
“We have to recover, as we’ve done many times. That’s our target this year. Priority number one is to win the title back.”
The quest is tough, with City again preparing to spend big, possibly on Robin van Persie, with whom Ferguson has also been linked.
United’s manager is not one to shirk a challenge though, as he has proved so often before.
“When Arsenal won the title from us in 1998 we won the Treble the next year,” he said.
“Then Chelsea came along and got off to a flyer in the league for the first two years, so we changed our pre-season a little to make sure we got off to quick starts.
“Recovery is so important and the same applies this season.”
Not that the preparation is going to be particularly easy.
For the first half of a pre-season campaign that will see them fly 22,000 miles – United also have a game in Cape Town on Saturday before a 13-hour flight to Shanghai for a single game next Wednesday – Ferguson will be without all but Anders Lindegaard of his Euro 2012 contingent.
After that, he will be missing Ryan Giggs and Tom Cleverley, who are about to try and win Olympic gold for Great Britain, knowing the final takes place on August 11, the same day as their club’s last friendly in Hanover.