Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has warned that, the club may not have “business as usual” in the summer transfer window.
In a Manchester United Fans’ Forum held through a conference call on Friday, Woodward pointed to this in his speech, with regards to the impact of the coronavirus on football.
The Red Devils have been rumoured to be readying big money moves for Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane and Jack Grealish, but the club’s chairman feels business may not be normal.
“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.
“As ever our priority is the success of 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.”
The United chairman also reiterated the club’s commitment to seeing to it that the season is completed while also outling support for possibility of a behind-closed-doors fixtures if needed.
“Like all of you, 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 added.
“We are in constant dialogue with our governing bodies about when and how that will happen and we will continue to engage with this Forum to keep fans consulted.
“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.”
