Manchester United executive vice-president Ed Woodward has been slammed over his running of the club by former Chelsea star Craig Burley, who says that United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has seen key transfer targets Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and many more missed due to Ed Woodward and the Old Trafford hierarchy.
The executive vice-president has been in the hot seat and the target of fan criticism in recent seasons, especially given that he still oversees the club’s transfer dealings.
Recent years have seen Woodward making ome attempts to hire a director of football but is now once again dabbling in the transfer window attempting to broker deals with negotiator Matt Judge.
Despite all the ballyhoo and chest-thumping, this summer has been a tricky one for the United hierarchy who have only managed to secure Donny van de Beek so far with loudly-trumpeted moves for Jadon Sancho, Nathan Ake, Gabriel, Jack Grealish and many more have fallen flat, leaving supporters riled again and frustrated.
“Let’s be frank, Solskjaer’s just happy to be there,” Burley told ESPN FC.
“He’s won the lottery being manager of Manchester United, coming from where he was and what he achieved as a manager.
“So he was planted in there for the appeasement of the fans initially by the ownership and Ed Woodward, and it worked short term.
“But quite frankly, is he going to be banging his fist on the door and on the desk of Ed Woodward, demanding the finances are spread around on top-quality players, going to the media and complaining about the club because they’re not backing him? No he’s not.
“Would [Sir Alex] Ferguson sit back and take it? No. Would [Jurgen] Klopp? Would [Pep] Guardiola? Would the top coaches? No they would not.
“But he’s sitting there, he’s taking it on the chin, he has a little growl now and again, but at the end of the day he’s just happy to be in that job.
“But as I said all along, I don’t think he’s going to be in that job long term and he’s certainly not being helped by Ed Woodward, who at the moment is just running this place so shoddily from a football perspective it’s scary.
“They’re miles behind City and Liverpool. ‘We’re going to be signing Sancho, we’re going to be signing this player, we’re going to be signing that player’ – no, absolutely diddly squat apart from Donny van de Beek.
“For Manchester United, not good enough.”