Manchester United redraw transfer plans after Ed Woodward's admission on £100m+ spending

Ed Woodward says talk of nine-figure deals 'ignores the reality' of financial impact of coronavirus
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Manchester United admit they may have to redraw their transfer plans in the face of coronavirus.

Ed Woodward has indicated for the first time that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s spending power could be hit by the financial effects of football being placed on lockdown.

United have placed Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish among their list of summer targets, with Solskjaer openly admitting he hoped to exploit the market when the window opens.

While the club’s ongoing commercial success has enabled them to avoid furloughing staff or asking players to take a pay cut, Woodward insists they will have to be realistic about their recruitment plans.

Borussia Dortmund want upwards of £100million for Sancho, while Harry Kane – long-coveted by Woodward - is valued at more than £200m by Tottenham.

But United’s executive vice-chairman said: “We have always believed that our commercial model gives us greater resilience than most clubs and we are grateful for the enduring support of our commercial partners in helping us achieve that.

“However, nobody should be under any illusions about the scale of challenge facing everyone in football and it may not be ‘business as usual’ for any clubs, including ourselves, in the transfer market this summer.

“As ever our priority is the success of team, but we need visibility of the impact across the whole industry, including timings of the transfer window, and the wider financial picture, before we can talk about a return to normality.

“On this basis, I cannot help feeling that speculation around transfers of individual players for hundreds of millions of pounds this summer seems to ignore the realities that face the sport.”

In Pictures | Manchester United 2020 summer transfer targets: Strikers

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United saw this summer as an opportunity to recruit the players to mount a title challenge next season.

James Maddison and Donny van de Beek are also on an extensive list of targets, as well as forwards like Moussa Dembele, Erling Braut Haaland, Timo Werner and Raul Jimenez.

Addressing United’s transfer plans this month, Solskjaer told Sky Sports: “Football is going to get back to normality at one point, and it’s very important we’re ready when that happens.

“Then, the market, who knows how the market is going to react to this? Who knows which clubs need to sell players?

“There might be just a situation there where you can exploit, and I know that we at Man United we are one of the biggest, and the biggest, financially well-off.”

Woodward was speaking at a fans’ forum event held via conference call.

He revealed talks over the Premier League resuming after being indefinitely suspended due to Covid-19 – admitting it was likely games would be played behind closed doors.

“Like all of you, we are eager to see the team return to the field as soon as we are advised it is safe to do so, hopefully to complete a season which still held so much promise for us in the Premier League, the Europa League and the FA Cup when it was suspended,” he said.

“We are in constant dialogue with our governing bodies about when and how that will happen and we will continue to engage with this Forum to keep fans consulted.

“And while it may be that games need to be played behind closed doors in the shorter term, we all recognise that football will not be fully back to normal until supporters are once again in attendance.”

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