Manchester United are benefiting from smarter leadership, and part of that is simply not saying silly things in public.
The amount of time the Glazers have spoken publicly about Manchester United, you could count on one hand over the past 20 years.
This left former chief executive Ed Woodward to become the ‘face of the club’, and this meant one embarrassment after another.
It began with Woodward urgently flying from Australia to the UK in 2013 to attempt to close the Gareth Bale deal. And failing.
After his disastrous opening transfer window that culminated with buying Marouane Fellaini for £4 million more than his release clause, Woodward was under pressure.
He came out fighting, and made a declaration that would haunt the club for the next decade.
Ed Woodward points, with Richard Arnold next to him
Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images
Ed Woodward boasted about Manchester United’s finances
Ranking pretty highly among Ed Woodward’s top 10 defining moments at Manchester United was his promise to re-define the transfer market.
Speaking in 2014, he boasted: “We can do things in the transfer market that other clubs can only dream of. Watch this space.”
More United News
These comments set the tone for a cavalier approach in the market, paying too much for players, and losing almost every negotiation.
When Leicester wanted £80 million for Harry Maguire, Woodward ensured the fee was paid in full, immediately.
Long-before that, United had paid high prices for the likes of Angel di Maria and Paul Pogba, while chasing past-it big names like Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Woodward’s boast undoubtedly made United’s task in the market more difficult when it came to negotiations, and the club focused on money as a reason to bring players to the club, rather than signing players genuinely desperate to wear the shirt.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has kept everybody guessing
Since taking over as minority investor, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has essentially been running football operations at Manchester United.
Ratcliffe has taken a front-facing role, getting hands-on and conducting interviews, taking responsibility.
And when it comes to finances, he has acted shrewdly, keeping everybody guessing over Manchester United’s spending power.
The challenge of PSR has made the financial line trickier to tread than it once was, and United have had to make tricky decisions, and smart ones, while Ratcliffe has invested his own money into the club.
Unlike Woodward’s boast that United are ready to spend, Ratcliffe has made no such public declaration.
If anything, his comments have suggested the opposite, commenting on the hardship United face financially.
And when it comes to spending big, he is prepared to do it, and in a shrewd manner. Newcastle outbid Manchester United for Benjamin Sesko, with Ineos’ clever, more patient approach paying off.
United can pick their spots, and if a price gets too high, like Everton’s demands for Jarrad Branthwaite in 2024, Ineos will simply walk away, where Woodward would have kept bidding.