Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, has offered Ole Gunnar Solskjær his long-term backing in response to the manager’s mixed results at the start of the season.
United are 10 points behind league leaders Liverpool after six matches, and criticism not just of Solskjær but of the club’s structure resurfaced after the disappointing defeat at West Ham at the weekend.
Announcing record financial revenues of £627.1m for the year ending 30 June – a figure expected to drop next year because of expensive new contracts for key players and United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League – Woodward insisted he was optimistic for the future.
“The progress we’ve made on the business side underpins our continued investment in the football side,” he said. “Much of the investment in the academy, the recruitment department and the training ground facilities is not immediately apparent to those on the outside, but we believe we have put the building blocks in place for success.
“While we are confident this investment will deliver results it is important that we are patient as Ole and his team build for the future. We intend to get back to the top of English football. Our growing global fan-base demands success, and success means winning trophies. That target and that standard has never changed for Manchester United and we will continue to focus on the long-term strategy and won’t be influenced by short-term distractions. We want to return to the roots of our club’s ethos of youth-led, attacking football and we will continue to make the necessary investments to make it happen. This long-term approach to building a squad is the right one.”
Woodward knows well enough what corporate backers like to hear but the paying customers at Old Trafford will not be so easily satisfied. Though United are clearly not short of funds their wage bill of £332.3m is up by over £36m on the previous year and represents 53% of annual turnover. The club’s inability to replace Romelu Lukaku before the transfer window closed is also viewed as risky, and suspicion surrounds Woodward’s motives for failing to appoint a director of football when it was plain as long ago as José Mourinho’s departure that United were in need of someone in charge of recruitment. Woodward himself has said as much within the last year, yet decisive action seems as far away as ever.
“Regarding the speculation around the head of football, we are continually reviewing and looking at the potential to evolve our structure on the football side,” Woodward said. “We feel the players we signed this summer show we are resolute in our desire to return to the top of English football.”
