Ed Woodward has warned it may not be business as usual for Manchester United in the summer transfer window and that speculation linking the club with players for hundreds of millions of pounds is “far from reality.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is still hoping to add new signings to his squad whenever the transfer window does open and the club continue to work on potential deals, but the economic impact of Covid-19 could result in reduced spending for United.
Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho is top of the transfer list and Harry Kane has been of interest as United look to replace Romelu Lukaku, who left for Inter last summer. However, talk of England captain Kane joining in a transfer of £200 million ($247m) has been dismissed.
“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,” Woodward said at a Fans’ Forum meeting held remotely on Friday.
“As ever our priority is the success of the 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.”
The Premier League has currently been suspended due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and there is no date set for its return. Since its suspension United have backed the league’s commitment to complete the current campaign when it is safe to do so.
“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,” Woodward said.
“We are in constant dialogue with our governing bodies about when and how that will happen. 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.”