Ed Woodward has said that United will continue to be “highly competitive” in the transfer market – but warned that no club will be immune from the economic effects of the current hiatus.
Ed Woodward said “It is not necessarily going to be business-as-usual for clubs this summer,” he said. “It feels somewhat inappropriate to see speculation about transfers for hundreds of millions in current circumstances. There’s a big disconnect between those stories and the economic realities facing football clubs in general. Clearly it’s true we are fortunate to be in a strong financial position compared to many clubs, but we are not immune from the financial impact of what this virus is doing. I would say that once we have that visibility of a path through the crisis and coming out of the other side to relative normality then, of course, we aim to remain highly competitive in the market. As I said before and I’ve said this many times, we remain committed to backing Ole to win trophies. That’s our core objective as a club.”
United have been linked with big-money moves for several players this summer – including Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane and Jack Grealish – but Woodward told a recent fans’ forum that such spending would be contrary to “economic realities”.