Ed Woodward has been at Manchester United for over a decade. From advising the Glazer family during his takeover of the club in 2005, to joining the club as a financial planner to serving as the club's executive vice-president. He is now ready to leave, however, and the club is expected to announce Richard Arnold , managing director of the club group , as his successor. After a failed attempt to form the European Premier League, Woodward revealed he would be leaving the club by the end of 2021. What were the worst eight transfers he dominated in his years as a Manchester United?
Rojo (Sporting Lisbon, 2014, £16 million)
Marcos Rojo is up to the task, both centre-back and left-back, so he is seen as the solution to United's defensive dilemma. With the team finishing seventh in the 2013-14 season, both Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra left the club that summer, it was absolutely needed. The defender made 22 appearances in his debut season, but his recklessness in defence and poor defensive awareness ensured that everything would go downhill from then on. Perhaps Rojo's worst statistic is that in 2019-20, he lost possession per game more than Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof combined (18.9).
Di Maria (Real Madrid, 2014, £59.7 million)
Coming to Old Trafford as the MVP of the champions league final of the previous season, the expectations of the Argentine at United are self-evident. However, he seemed to share the same illness as his compatriot Perón, and Di Maria was unable to adapt to life in England. Despite being teammates with both of them, the theft of the residence is still di Maria's lingering haze in England. After a short tepid experience, the Argentine left the team, which in turn helped him regain his joy of playing football.
Falcao (Monaco, £6 million loan in 2014)
United paid £6m on loan from Monaco in Falcao in 2014, and it's fair to say the deal went unchecked. High hopes were high for the player, who had beaten La Liga with Atletico Madrid, but Falcao scored just four Premier League goals during his time at the club, while the killer qualities shown in Spain and France were all wiped out after moving to Old Trafford. He failed to adapt to the league and while signing him made sense at the time as United needed reinforcements to top the table, it was another example of a bad transfer decision. It's safe to say that the Reds didn't accept the option of a £43.5 million permanent move.
Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, 2015, £6.5 million)
When United signed Schweinsteiger in 2015, it's fair to say he wasn't the player he once was. He's no longer a controlling midfielder, he's causing more problems than he's solving. He received a yellow card eight minutes after his debut before being suspended three times in December for shooting West Ham player Reed in the throat. Under the leadership of new manager Jose Mourinho, he was banished to the U23 squad. He didn't start a single game for more than a year before moving to major leagues in March 2017.
Schneiderlin (Southampton, 2015, £25 million)
Schneiderlin has been on United's signing list for some time and they finally got the man they wanted in 2015. It looked like a shrewd signing, and he became the team's starter in his first season. However, he only played 147 minutes the following year before being sold to Everton after failing to meet high expectations. He was far from the worst signing, Schneiderlin was just an ordinary Manchester United player. However, they did recover most of the transfer fees paid to Southampton.
Memphis-Depay (Eindhoven, 2015, £25 million)
After Memphis Depay moved to Old Trafford for £25m, high hopes were placed on him, but during his short club career he failed to meet those expectations. Wearing the famous number 7 shirt, Depay couldn't reach the prestige of those who came before him, scoring just two Premier League goals and not a single assist in the club's only full season. Not only did Depay fail at the club, but he also failed to recover most of the money the club paid for him, with Manchester United selling him to Lyon in January 2017 for less than £15 million. Of course, he has since regained his form and moved to Barcelona in the summer of 2021.
Sanchez (Arsenal, 2018, swapMkhitaryan)
Sanchez may have been the worst player exchange deal ever, coming to Manchester as one of the Premier League's best geniuses but failing. Arsenal's much-loved Sanchez have never performed the same thing since moving to Old Trafford. He scored just three Premier League goals in 18 months at the club and joined Inter milan on a free transfer after a 2020 loan spell. When he swapped with Mkhitaryan, he reportedly earned around £14m a year (after tax); he spent a large sum of money on the club but did not match the performance.
Van de Beek (Ajax, 2020, £35 million)
It may be too early to judge this, but it is clearly disappointing for a £35m player to have only four Premier League starts in a season without injury. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer simply did not want to relinquish his reliance on Bruno Fernandes at any time, so Van de Beek has become an expensive substitute. As a gifted player at Ajax, the Dutchman had no chance at Manchester United, and as he lingered on Solskjaer for longer, any chance of saving value was slowly disappearing. Van der Beek could turn things around, even though his first season was terrible and the transfer fee was not great for the club.