Man United boost! ‘New signings are imminent’, insists Old Trafford chief

Posted Monday, July 21, 2014 by Talksport.co.uk

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has insisted the club expect to welcome a number of signings as well as several departures over the next few weeks.

New manager Louis van Gaal has already spent around £50million on England starlet Luke Shaw and Spanish playmaker Ander Herrera, but the Dutchman looks set to announce more arrivals before his debut Premier League campaign begins.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has been linked with host of top names since his appointment at Old Trafford, including Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, Holland internationals Daley Blind and Kevin Strootman and Arsenal centre-back Thomas Vermaelen.

The club are desperate to avoid a hangover from their woeful season under axed boss David Moyes last term, where the 20-time champions finished seventh, meaning they will be without European football this season for the first time in almost two decades.

And Woodward says there is plenty of cash available to Van Gaal if he decides he needs to strengthen further, as they look to at least qualify for the Champions League this time around.

"There is no fixed budget. Financially we are extremely strong, we have funds available," he told MUTV.

"Louis is the boss and is assessing what's going on but we have been in dialogue for some time about targets so there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.

"We're continuing to move forward on some of those targets, so watch this space.

"We want to do what it takes to win the title.

"I've experienced a lot of conversations with agents and players and we are still a huge attraction to top football stars around the world - there is no doubt about that.

"We're a club that absolutely should be in the Champions League. That's what our fans want, that's what our players want and that's what every member of staff wants.

"We have to strive to win. We're not here to be an also-ran; we're here to win trophies to add to that huge, incredible list that we've won over many years."

One area in particular Van Gaal is hoping to strengthen is at the back, with the departures of centre-backs Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic leaving a sizable whole in their defence.

But Woodward admitted the experienced pair won’t be the only players to leave Old Trafford this summer.

He added: "The manager makes that decision and a few players have already gone and there may well be a few others that go.

"It's also worth commenting that we're not in Europe this year, so there's less games, maybe the manager takes the view that he wants a tighter squad to bed in.

"If you do the analysis over last year, Liverpool performed extremely well with a smaller number of players but that's a decision for the manager.“