5 steps Manchester United must take to rise to the top once more 

#4 Get Ed Woodward to stick to the marketing side of things

Ed Woodward is more attuned to making money

Ed Woodward has been an integral part of the Manchester United family ever since the Glazers took over the club in 2005, having advised them in his role as an investment banker and in gratitude, United’s owner appointed him in a ‘financial planning’ role.

The 47-year-old is a trained accountant and his expertise came in very handy in boosting United’s commercial value from £47.5 million in 2005 to £117.6 million in 2012.

Woodward continued to climb the ranks and was announced as the executive vice-chairman of Manchester United which sees him oversee the operations of the club.

His very first transfer window in his new role was highly controversial as the club only completed the signing of Marouane Fellaini, with numerous fans calling for his resignation.

Woodward’s foray into football activities at United have been nothing short of disastrous as he has been at the forefront of most of the acrimonious decisions taken by the club in recent years, including the world record signing of Pogba and giving Alexis Sanchez the bumper contract.

Woodward might have a knack for commercial ventures and profitability, but sadly, he is not a football man and perhaps a clearer indication of where his true intentions lies would be the fact that he went on record in 2018 to state that United would 'make money' regardless of results on the field, as they were already more than profitable as it is.

So in essence, he sees the club not as a mega club with an illustrious history which should be competing for all the major honors, but as a commercial behemoth which should be making money for shareholders.

Don’t get me wrong, football is very much big business, with massive investments that require positive returns. However, there is a place for everything and since Woodward has proven himself adept at making profits, he should leave the football matters to those with the know-how, while he sticks to making money for the club.