Man Utd deals for Sancho, Koulibaly and Grealish in jeopardy after Ed Woodward rules out big money transfers
MANCHESTER UNITED'S big-money summer transfer plans for the likes of Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Kalidou Koulibaly could be in jeopardy because of the coronavirus pandemic, Ed Woodward has warned.
The Red Devils had been expected to go big this summer, with the expensive trio at the top of their wishlist.
Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had previously spoken to Sky Sports of how United may be able to "exploit" the Covid-19 situation when it came to the market this summer.
But Woodward, 48, has delivered some harsh realities.
He told a Red Devils fans forum: "Nobody should be under any illusions about the scale of challenge facing everyone in football and it may not be ‘business as usual’ for any clubs, including ourselves, in the transfer market this summer.
“As ever our priority is the success of team, but we need visibility of the impact across the whole industry, including timings of the transfer window, and the wider financial picture, before we can talk about a return to normality.
“On this basis, I cannot help feeling that speculation around transfers of individual players for hundreds of millions of pounds this summer seems to ignore the realities that face the sport."
United have persistently been linked with Sancho this season, with the livewire Borussia Dortmund winger believed to be open to a move to Old Trafford.
But despite virtually all of the terms of the deal believed to have been laid out for the £105million-rated 20-year-old, United may have to pull the plug.
MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: Follow for the latest United news
Another often-linked Englishman is Jack Grealish, with the Aston Villa skipper having long been expected to join Solskjaer's side in a megabucks deal worth up to £80million.
But that fee now feels frivolous in the economic ruin that is set to come as a result of Covid-19.
It is still unknown whether Villa will be relegated, sitting 19th with ten games to go, albeit with a crucial game in hand.
LATEST MAN UTD NEWS
Kalidou Koulibaly has long been believed by many to be the final piece in United's defensive jigsaw, with the 28-year-old finally expected to be sold by Napoli.
The Serie A side were thought to want to raise £113million out of sales of Koulibaly and Arkadiusz Milik this summer.
But with the constraints expected when the dust settles, either they will have to settle for less, or United will have to look elsewhere.
