A look back at Ed Woodward’s time in charge of Manchester United over the last 10 years

One week ago, on February 1, Ed Woodward’s time as the director of Manchester United came to an end. He took over from David Gill in 2013 and has since overseen one of the worst periods in the club’s history. 

The Red Devils are no longer the undisputed kings of the land and have been replaced by two of their arch-rivals: Manchester City and Liverpool. Ed Woodward’s time in charge of the club has not resulted in a single league title, despite winning the Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup once each. 

Ed Woodward’s time as the director of Manchester United by the numbers 

United have outspent every European club in hopes of returning to their former glory under Sir Alex Ferguson. They have spent €1.3 billion in total on acquiring players alone, with multiple high-profile transfers not working out in their favour. 

Their net spends over the past 10 seasons has been a staggering €903 million. To put things into perspective, Manchester City (£826.6 million), Paris Saint-Germain (£790.4 million) and Barcelona (£546 million) have spent much less but have won league titles multiple times – at least five to be specific. 

Ed Woodward had no clear transfer strategy during his time at the club, and it was evident in the way they went about recruiting players. After smashing their transfer record on Paul Pogba, they signed Romelu Lukaku for €90 million, who was later sold for a loss as well. 

Right now, the duo of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire seems out of place as well. The two Englishmen cost a combined €130 million and seem to lack a solid place in the starting line-up at the moment. Moreover, Manchester United are also yet to decide on their permanent management to succeed Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.