Ed Woodward has reiterated Manchester United’s commitment to backing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rebuild as they aim to be ‘highly competitive’ in the transfer market.
Solskjaer’s position at the club has come under scrutiny since he was given the job on a permanent basis 13 months ago.
Mixed results led for calls from some for the Norwegian to be sacked. However, the message from the board has always been that the Treble winner would be given the time and resources needed to complete the rebuild he has started.
Before the outbreak of Covid-19 forced the suspension of football and the summer transfer window, Solskjaer was preparing to bring in at least three signings, with funds being sanctioned for some big-money moves.
Despite warning it will not be ‘business as usual’ when the transfer window does finally open, Woodward is confident the club can continue to give Solskjaer the backing he needs.
‘It’s always a top priority for us to strengthen the team and build on what Ole is very clearly achieving in terms of bringing us back to the top,’ Woodward said in response to a fan’s question about how competitive United plan to be in the transfer window at the Fans’ Forum meeting.
‘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.’
Big-money moves have been ruled out due to the current economic climate and a £200 million ($250m) transfer for Harry Kane was dismissed after the England captain was tipped to make the switch to Old Trafford.
And while Woodward hopes United will be in the mix when the window does open, a lot of uncertainty still remains.
‘We’ve got to have clarity on what the future holds,’ Woodward said.
‘What will happen with the remainder of this season? What is the impact on next season? Is it behind closed doors or in front of fans? What’s the impact on broadcast deals, sponsorship deals? What’s the impact on domestic cups?
‘Also, we don’t yet know what’s going to happen with regards to the FA Cup – we’re obviously still in that in the quarter-finals. What’s going to happen to that next season if it’s truncated a little bit to squeeze in Premier League games? Does that have a knock-on on domestic cups?
‘There are many, many moving parts. It is not necessarily going to be business as usual for clubs this summer. 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. 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.’
Fifa has proposed the transfer window take place between the end of the current campaign, whenever that may be, and the start of the 2020-21 season, but those dates have yet to be confirmed due to the pandemic.