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Ed Woodward: Man Utd 'on the right track' to win silverware after Ronaldo return

  /  autty

Ed Woodward believes Manchester United are on track to win silverware after a strong summer of recruitment at Old Trafford.

As the club announced their latest financial figures, executive vice-chairman Woodward said tangible progress was being made under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to enable United to challenge for honours at home and in Europe.

Woodward said the summer signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane - for a combined outlay of £134million - were made possible by the club's commercial strength which also helped ward off the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The United chief said: 'It has been an exciting start to the season at Old Trafford, with capacity crowds in attendance for the first time in almost 18 months.

'We were delighted to welcome back Cristiano Ronaldo to the club, along with Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Tom Heaton, to further reinforce the progress that our first team has been making under Ole.

'This was made possible by the strength of our operating model, with sustained investment in the team underpinned by robust commercial revenues.

'Everyone associated with Manchester United can be proud of the resilience we have shown through the challenges created by the pandemic and we look forward to the rest of the season and beyond with great optimism.'

Speaking to investors on a conference call on Friday afternoon, Woodward added: 'We have been clear in our strategy to build a squad with a blend of top-class recruits and homegrown talent, comprising a balance of youth and experience, with the aim of winning trophies and playing attacking football the Manchester United way.

'As part of this, we have continued to strengthen our recruitment and scouting processes, and we have also increased our investment in the Academy, to ensure that this success is sustainable.

'While squad-building is a constant process, we are more confident than ever that we are on the right track.'

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