Man Utd transfer news: Ed Woodward defends expensive signings, explaining United operate in 'different market'

During a conference call with investors, the chief executive explained why top-of-the-table Leicester were able to unearth bargains when Manchester United were spending huge sums on players

Manchester United spent £58m on Anthony Martial (Getty Images)

Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward has defended the fact Leicester City’s £22m acquisitions are 12 points ahead of Old Trafford’s vastly expensive squad in the Premier League, declaring the transfer market is more challenging for him because his signings must be “verging on world class almost immediately.”

United have spent over £500m on a side which stands six points away from the fourth Champions League places heading into this weekend. But when asked during an investors’ conference call: “When you head into the transfer window why is the case the bigger clubs can’t find relatively cheap players like Leicester have done?” Woodward said other clubs were aided by being able to purchase on the basis of a player’s future development potential.

“Leicester is a fantastic reference point for everybody this year,” Woodward told Nomura analyst Matthew Walker. “Some players are bought by other clubs with an eye to them developing into something special in a few years’ time. Where there’s a bit more pressure on some of the other clubs to bring in players who are going to be hitting the ground running and top players verging on world class almost immediately. So there is a slightly different market in which people are buying.”

The conference call, convened to discuss second quarter results which saw United’s revenues rise by 26.6 per cent to a record £133.8m, with commercial revenues up 42.5 percent to £66.1m, did not bring a single reference to the future of manager Louis van Gaal. Analysts may have been aware that questions to Woodward about the Dutchman being be replaced by Jose Mourinho could have put him in an invidious position and caused a storm of adverse publicity. Certainly, they did not feel that the managerial uncertainty was a cause of immediate commercial concern, despite United’s share price dropping below $14 for the first time since flotation in 2012, on Monday.

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (Getty Images)

But there was a message relevant to Mourinho - a manager deeply disinterested in developing young talent - when Woodward described imminent development plans for the club’s own academy. “The academy continues to be at the heart of the club. Giving youth a chance is part of our philosophy, part of our DNA,” Woodward said – an assessment which will not be music to the ears of the Portuguese, whose representatives are desperate to get him Van Gaal’s job. “We took the departure of [director] Brian McClair last summer to do a root and branch review of the academy. That’s now complete and change is under way. Announcements will follow in the coming days.”

Woodward hinted at one of the major competitive advantages he feels United’s academy has over Manchester City’s – the potential for young players to reach the first team. “[We have] an unmatched track record of player development compared with any other team, in particular in England,” he said. And [we have a] runway [to] deliver first team opportunities to those players coming through. Very different to some of our competitors.”

The executive vice-chairman said he could not comment on the effect of Liverpool fans’ successful protest against £77 match tickets on Old Trafford ticket revenues. But he said the club there was no plan to move away from a five-year freeze on general admission process and that next month’s Premier League clubs’ meeting would “deliver something more to away fans.”