In the summer of 2014 the Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward boasted that his club had the funds and clout to sign any player in the world.
Asked if he could come close to competing with the elite of Real Madrid and Barcelona, and break the world transfer record, Woodward boldly declared, “Of course it is within our capabilities…Are we afraid of doing that? No.”
“The reality is that we’re not afraid of spending significant amounts of money in the transfer market,” he told the Daily Mirror. “I stand by what I said, there is no budget.