Woodward: Expect more United signings
- adamhigginsuk
- Jul 20, 2014
- 2 min read
Decisions: van Gaal, who guided Holland to third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, will assess the current United squad in Los Angeles before bringing in new players (Picture from Flickr.com)
VICE-CHAIRMAN Ed Woodward has told Manchester United fans to expect more new signings and several departures before the end of the transfer window.
New manager Louis van Gaal has already added £27m defender Luke Shaw from Southampton and midfielder Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao for £29m.
But United look set to bring in further faces with Arturo Vidal, Daley Blind, Kevin Strootman and Thomas Vermaelen, amongst others, all being linked with moves to Old Trafford.
And Woodward promised there will be no repeat of last summer's transfer disappointment, telling MUTV: "There is no fixed budget. Financially we are extremely strong, we have funds available.
"Louis is the boss and is assessing what's going on but we have been in dialogue for some time about targets so there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes... we're continuing to move forward on some of those targets... so watch this space.
"The time he [Van Gaal] spends here as well [in America] he'll be able to assess more what he's got and continue to tweak the decisions if we need to.
"We want to do what it takes to win the title."
Last summer, Woodward could only secure one of former manager David Moyes's key transfer targets before the deadline with midfielder Marouane Fellaini arriving from Everton.
United failed to secure European football after finishing seventh in the Premier League last term but Woodward does not believe that will warn off potential signings.
"I've experienced a lot of conversations with agents and players and we are still a huge attraction to top football stars around the world - there is no doubt about that. We've already invested in two new fantastic players."
In addition to new recruits, a host of players are also set to leave the club with Patrice Evra expected to follow experienced campaigners Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic out of the door despite signing a new contract extension.
Juventus are interested in the Frenchman's services but van Gaal already has a ready-made replacement in 19-year-old England international Shaw, who joined last month.
Brazilian midfielder Anderson and misfiring forward Bebe, who were both loaned out last term, can leave for free.
The likes of Javier Hernandez, Wilfried Zaha, Marouane Fellaini and Tom Cleverley all face uncertainty surrounding their futures.
When asked whether players would be departing, Woodward replied: "Yes, I think so.
"The manager makes that decision and a few players have already gone and there may well be a few others that go.
"It's also worth commenting that we're not in Europe this year (so) there's less games, maybe the manager takes the view that he wants a tighter squad to bed in.
"If you do the analysis over last year, Liverpool performed extremely well with a smaller number of players but that's a decision for the manager."
Last updated: 20 July 2014 23:11pm
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