Manchester United Must Blend Home-Grown Talent With World-Class Stars- Ed Woodward

Old Trafford chief Ed Woodward says pressure is still on Manchester United to sign world-class players but promised to stay true to the club’s tradition of promoting young home-grown talent.

He said this while announcing record second-quarter revenue of £133.8million on Thursday and he was pressed by investors on why a Leicester City side costing a total of £22m can be top of the Premier League when United are fifth after Van Gaal has spent £250m. 

Woodward insisted that United will continue to shop at the top end of the market, saying: “Leicester are a fantastic reference point for everybody this year. The philosophy we have is to target quality of players based on the huge amount of scouting that we do and analysis within the training ground. Then we do our best to do the best deal we can. Some players are bought by other clubs with an eye to them developing into something special in a few years’ time, where there is a bit more pressure on the bigger clubs to bring in players who hit the ground running and are verging on world-class almost immediately. There is a slightly different market in which people are buying”.

Woodward also went ahead to reaffirm United’s commitment to youth comparing United’s track record in that department with rivals like Manchester City and Chelsea and promised news on the academy changes ‘in the coming days’ following an extensive review. Woodward said “The academy continues to be the heart of the club, giving youth a chance is part of our DNA, we took the departure of Brian McClair last summer as an opportunity to do a root-and-branch review of the academy. That is now compete and changes are under way. Announcements will follow in coming days. In terms of the future, our key competitive advantages are still very strong; our unmatched track record of player development compared to any other team in England, and the runway we deliver of first-team opportunities to those players, again very different to some of our competitors”