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24th Jul 2016

Smiling Ed Woodward’s meeting with Jose Mourinho excites Man United fans amid Paul Pogba rumours

Desperate for clues...

Simon Lloyd

Well… it just wouldn’t be the summer transfer window without Ed Woodward getting a few mentions, would it?

Yet again, with Manchester United reportedly in the midst of trying to pull off another big-money transfer, fans are monitoring the movements of their Executive Vice-Chairman.

Usually responsible for thrashing out deals with United’s ever-growing family of official partners, Woodward is also the man tasked with signing up new players ahead of Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge of the club.

As United supporters will tell you, Ed’s not had much luck in recent summer transfer markets. Despite strong interest in a number of star names, a number of heavily-reported attempts from United to bring them to Old Trafford have ended in the players either moving to another club or staying put and signing nice, juicy, new deals.

Sunderland v Manchester United - Premier League

Poor old Ed has taken plenty of flak for these failed deals in the last few years, meaning the heat is really on him as United look to bring Paul Pogba back to the club from Juventus.

If you believe what you read, Pogba has been the subject of a world record transfer fee-shattering bid from United in the last couple of days, with Woodward reportedly opting not to go on the club’s preseason tour to China in order to get the deal done.

But on Sunday, with United preparing to meet Manchester City in Beijing, Woodward was spotted in the Chinese capital.

With some media outlets claiming on Sunday morning that a deal for the 23-year-old could be imminent, his arrival in China had some United supporters fearing that the deal had collapsed.

https://twitter.com/MUFCFutbol/status/757208498979602433

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Some United fans are so desperate for clues that all is well in the Pogba pursuit that a meeting between Woodward and Mourinho has sparked hope that the deal is as good as done?

Why?

Because Woodward was smiling….

https://twitter.com/JT1878/status/757191175493287936

https://twitter.com/Authentic_KM/status/757216316046606336

https://twitter.com/Bassa_UTD/status/757198054218956800

Not exactly bomb-proof evidence if you’re asking us but definitely a sign that this transfer saga has now rumbled on far too long. Don’t be too surprised if it continues to rumble on for at least another few days.

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