Hard disagreements, Berrada and his confrontation with Woodward over United

Ed Woodward made a rod for his own back when declaring Manchester United could create money regardless of their results on the pitch. "Playing performance doesn't really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business," said Woodward, which went down like a lead balloon. Woodward was executive vice-chairman when making that comment in 2018 and his tenure was an absolute disaster.

Vinicius Jr would cost more than 150 million euros to join Manchester United

Over £1billion was spent on players, only three trophies, the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League, were won and he was deeply unpopular among fans. Bristol University graduate Woodward had fallen upwards to become the most powerful figure at England's biggest club and he became a symbol of everything wrong at Old Trafford. Woodward was unqualified to have a prominent role in running the football side of United, something which his successor Richard Arnold wanted to distance himself from.

His expertise was in economics, not football, and that shone through in every decision. It's understood he later regretted his infamous quote but the damage had already been done. Woodward's quote was a public acknowledgement of what fans already knew: the Glazers' priority is profit. However, the arrogance of confirming that on an investor call rubbed them up the wrong way and the 'a specialist in failure' flyover was arranged a few months later.

There have been just under six years since Woodward's infamous quote and not much has changed. United are still punching below their weight and Sir Jim Ratcliffe has the task of turning the ship around after he acquired a minority stake in the club for around £1.25billion. Ratcliffe is assuming control of football operations and he's already made a significant appointment, despite the acquisition still having yet to be officially signed off. The announcement of Omar Berrada's appointment from Manchester City came out of the blue last weekend and someone of his calibre becoming United's CEO is a huge coup.

André Onana situation that worries Manchester United on the future of the keeper

Berrada's great preparation

The statement was recognition that football has not been at the heart of everything the club has done, but that is expected to change thanks to Ratcliffe's investment. The appointment of Berrada, who speaks four languages, is the first step in assembling a best-in-class hierarchy and he seems like an impressive communicator in every interview he's done. Berrada speaks passionately on issues regarding running a club and his comments from an interview in 2020 with the EU Business School make for pleasant reading.