Ed Woodward: David De Gea, Marcus Rashford to sign Manchester United deals by May

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward says the club is hoping to have agreed a contract extension for David De Gea by May, with Marcus Rashford another player in line for a new deal. Should the goalkeeper renew his contract, De Gea would join Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young, Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay in extending their stays at Old Trafford. In a conference call with journalists, Woodward said the club is “hoping to finish off the final few” contract renewals before the end of the season. The club announced its second-quarter financial results on Thursday, revealing that sacking former manager Jose Mourinho had cost £19.6m in compensation to the Portuguese and his staff. Despite this, the club announced record revenues of £208.6m for the quarter, but wages are up by £8.2m, largely due to the new contracts. Regarding the next permanent manager at Old Trafford, where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been in temporary charge since December, Woodward didn’t provide much information. When asked about the process of deciding the next manager, Woodward said: “I’m not getting into that. “The next communication will be when we announce the next manager.” On the subject of United appointing a director of football, Woodward simply said the club are continuing to look at ways to make the club stronger, but gave no indication as to when that appointment might be. Woodward described the last few months at Old Trafford as “eventful” and congratulated Solskjaer and Rashford on their respective Manager and Player of the Month awards. However, Woodward did admit that the club’s 2-0 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16 first leg was not the result they wanted. Woodward joined those paying tribute to former youth team coach Eric Harrison, who died on Thursday aged 81, describing his passing as “especially poignant” for Manchester United and underlining the club’s commitment to young players.