Manchester United to tone down spending

Ed Woodward has promised to keep improving Manchester United’s squad, although the executive vice-chairman has said this summer’s transfer window will not see the same “churn” of players.

United have splurged vast amounts on new players since Alex Ferguson’s retirement, including last summer’s world-record acquisition of Paul Pogba after deals for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly.

Those signings led to a 14.2% rise in the wage bill over the prior year quarter, as shown in United’s financial results for the quarter ending December 31, 2016, and costs could increase further if the likes of Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann arrive at the end of the season.