It's one of the odd things at the top of European football this year: very few clubs (or their fan bases) can look at their current situation, conclude the future is bright and reach for the shades.

League-leading Arsenal and Napoli? Sure, no question about it. Stick them at the top of the list.

Maybe a notch below them, Manchester City: they may not win the league this year (unlike four of the past five seasons) and there's a storm cloud potentially gathering with the Premier League investigation, but they've added a goal-scoring machine in Erling Haaland, Pep Guardiola is happy and sticking around and they're favourites to win both the FA Cup and the Champions League. Throw in Borussia Dortmund as well: the Champions League exit was disappointing, but they're alive in the DFB-Pokal, they're top of the Bundesliga and they're playing well.

I think you can broadly include Manchester United in that group, too: Erik ten Hag has been a hit, they're considerably better than last season, they're likely to qualify for the Champions League, they've won a domestic trophy with the Carabao Cup (and could win another, the FA Cup) and they're favourites to win the Europa League.

The one source of anxiety may be the potential sale of all or part of the club and whether the investment the club needs in Old Trafford and the squad materializes. (One Manchester United-supporting friend, albeit a notorious worry-wart, is concerned that "we'll end up with fewer Glazers and even more debt.")

Beyond that? There's only so much to cheer, and even the likelihood of winning a title doesn't necessarily turn a frown upside down.