Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward has issued a public promise to deliver 'world-class signings’ as the discontent around the club continues to rumble.
Fans and manager Jose Mourinho made their dissatisfaction known after a transfer window that saw the club fall out of the top six spenders. It also included the shock departure of head scout Javier Ribalta, the announcement by two different players that they wanted to leave the club and the sale of full-back Daley Blind. The club did sign Fred, Diogo Dalot and backup goalkeeper Lee Grant.
A disappointing start to the Premier League campaign included a fan protest with a plane calling for Woodward's removal, and now the boss has promised to deliver signings after a record-breaking year in revenue.
Speaking on the Man Utd quarterly conference call, Woodward offered assurances that their focus remains securing trophies.
We're the biggest sports team in the world as measured by the number of fans, we know our position is one that requires continued effort and investment to maintain. Our board, our investors and everyone at the club are aligned with the fans with what we need to do on the pitch and that is to win trophies. That's one of the reasons why we hired Jose Mourinho and have already won three with him.
On the pitch, it's clearly important we continue to drive the business forward, giving us the financial muscle to compete in a highly competitive transfer market. This allows us to continue to blend world-class purchased talent with our continued development of top academy graduates. Our academy continues to be a huge source of pride in delivering talent to the first-team.
While Woodward's claim will go towards providing certain assurances for the Old Trafford faithful, it does come with the caveat that the time to back the manager is during transfer windows and not three months before it reopens.
On the pitch, the club return to action tonight when they take on Derby County in the League Cup before a visit to West Ham this Saturday in the Premier League.
