by Mark Bassey

Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, has claimed that they have what it takes to pay up to £70m for a player this summer.

The Red Devil’s record-breaking £750m kit deal with Adidas has boosted their coffers and the former Premier League champions have already spent over £60m on Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera.

Louis van Gaal is still assessing his team who are on tour in America, before deciding whether he will buy again. Woodward has once again reassured the manager that money will not be a problem.

“Of course it’s within our capabilities,” he said. “Are we afraid of doing that? No.

“The reality is that we’re not afraid of spending significant amounts of money in the transfer market.

“Whether it’s a record or not doesn’t really resonate with us. What resonates is that a top, top, elite player, that the manager wants, is going to be a star for Manchester United.

“I get pointed in the direction of a target that the manager wants and there is an assessment of what that might cost and I’ll negotiate hard to do the best I can on the trade.

“I stand by what I said – there is no budget. We are in a very strong financial position. We can make big signings. [But] That doesn’t mean we go and throw money around.

Woodward, who insisted that United remain the biggest club in the world, also added that no player will be forced on the Dutchman.

“We’ve had a lot of scouting output through the last 12 months, flagging up various things to us. But Louis is the one that makes the ultimate decision around who he wants – I’m not going to force-feed him with a player that he hasn’t selected.

“What the new kit deal shows – and what we’re seeing with everything we’re doing from a commercial perspective, talking to agents, talking from a player’s perspective about wanting to come to us, is that we’re the biggest club in the world.”

“There’s no question in my mind about that.”