Ed Woodward

“The idea is to recruit in a closed environment, rather than listening to the press or getting distracted by conflicting agents' claims. We try and make cold decisions based on information.”

“Where I get involved is that I have to sign off the money, yet when you have target one, two or three from your process I feel fine going after the No 1 target and, if it's not to be him, then number two or three.”

“When a scout recommends a brilliant right back or a coach recommends one from our academy, we want the manager to weigh up what is right for the team.”

“We have to do everything that we possibly can to get back to winning the Premier League. We are not successful until we do. Second is not success, we have to win the Premier League.”

“The scouts are watching matches and we have a huge amount of data we purchase and a pyramid approach in terms of delivering that information to our chief scout and his team who are assessing it.”

“We are financially strong. We are self-sustaining. We don't have an umbilical cord that we are concerned about.”

“We're always able to look at a position and have our view in terms of the list of targets that would suit Manchester United and augment our team.”

“I want to take a long-term view. Being distracted by short term things can be dangerous when you are making cold, calm, long-term decisions.”

“The decisions related to recruitment are all taken by football experts. My involvement is signing off the money.”

“We as a club should be aspiring to have the best players playing for us. We've had that in the past. We're in for players if the manager wants to be.”

“We want players to come in who respect their teammates, the club, the history.”

“Giving youth a chance is part of our philosophy, part of our DNA.”

“I don't get involved in recruitment like people think I do. There's a myth that I look at YouTube and choose players. I don't. Having an eye for players is an art. I have no interest in doing that.”

“There should be both a humbleness and an arrogance. Humble when you are on the team coach and you wear the club suit, you do up your top button and wear your tie, you represent the club in the right way. Then you sign autographs for the people who pay your wages.”

“I understand the scrutiny; it's part of the job. And I don't want to be famous and can't be mates with the players.”

“Some players are bought by other clubs with an eye to them developing into something special in a few years' time. Whereas there's a bit more pressure on some of the other clubs to bring in players who are going to be hitting the ground running and top players verging on world class almost immediately.”