Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has reportedly started to watch some of the first-team squad’s training sessions at Carrington.
United have endured their worst start to a Premier League campaign since 1992, with back-to-back defeats having been suffered against Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur.
That has resulted in the pressure building on manager Jose Mourinho, and there have been mixed reports regarding the long-term future of the Portuguese at Old Trafford.
According to The Sun, concern over the team’s recent performances has resulted in Woodward taking a look at the work and mood at the club’s training facilities.
The report says that Woodward and Mourinho still possess a strong relationship, but a third successive defeat would put the club and Mourinho under further scrutiny heading into the international break. United face the short trip to Turf Moor to face Burnley on Sunday afternoon
Woodward began working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in the accounting and tax advisory department in 1993, before joining J.P. Morgan & Co. as an investment banker in the mergers and acquisitions department in 1999.
In 2005, Woodward advised Malcolm Glazer and the Glazer family during its successful takeover of Manchester United. The Glazer family then recruited Woodward to join the club in a “financial planning” role.
In 2007, Woodward was given charge of the commercial and media operations of Manchester United. It was in this role that Woodward is credited for United’s success in tying up lucrative sponsorship deals with companies around the world. In 2005, the club’s commercial revenue was £48.7 million. In 2012, it stood at £117.6 million.
Woodward was appointed to the board of directors and named executive vice-chairman of Manchester United in 2012. After the retirement of CEO David Gill the following year, Woodward was promoted to the top operational role at Old Trafford in a restructuring of the club’s boardroom. Woodward was succeeded by Richard Arnold as the club’s commercial management director.
In August 2016, Woodward secured the transfer of Paul Pogba for a record-breaking fee of €105 million, making him the most expensive footballer of all time.