Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has surpassed Tottenham's Daniel Levy to become the highest-paid director in the Premier League.
As per The Independent, the club's latest accounts show that Woodward earned £3.09m last season.
That's actually fallen from the £3.16m he earned during the 2018/19 season, but still leaves him as the top earner among the boardrooms of top-flight clubs over the past year.
Advert
Woodward, who has been in charge at United since 2013 having joined the club in 2012 as an executive vice-chairman, took a 20 per cent pay cut to help the Red Devils function during the pandemic.
Not all Premier League clubs list their director salaries. But Levy is the league's second-highest paid director, earning £2.96m at Tottenham last season after taking home £7m the previous year. That figure included a £3m bonus in connection to Tottenham's £1bn new stadium development
Advert
United's board of directors - which includes Sir Alex Ferguson, Woodward's predecessor David Gill and members of the Glazer family - earned a total of £6.78m.
United announced a £70m drop in expected revenue due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic back in October.
With matches continuing to take place behind closed doors, the club's 2019/20 financial statement showed that overall revenue was down by 18.8 per cent from £627.1m to £509m. The club's net debt was also doubled and reached £474.1m.
The club's overall wage bill fell from £287.4m to £242.5m last season, which was predominantly due to the playing squad receiving no bonuses for participating in the Champions League and the departure of high-earners such as Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.
Advert
Rivals City and Liverpool spent £276.9m and £276.2m on salaries respectively during the 2018/19 season.
Woodward has been seen as the man responsible for helping grow United's commercial image off the pitch in recent years but has been held accountable by fans for the club's lack of success in the transfer market.
The 49-year-old was blamed after United missed out on Jadon Sancho last summer, with the Red Devils refusing to meet Borussia Dortmund's £80m asking price.
The club instead splashed out £40m on Donny van de Beek, who has struggled to live up to expectations, and signed veteran striker Edinson Cavani on lucrative wages.
Advert
Woodward also completed deals for Alex Telles, Facundo Pellistri and Amad Diallo. He insisted the club's recruitment had been 'top class' and was responsible for their surge towards the top of the Premier League.
Advert
In United's matchday programme ahead of their recent game against Aston Villa, he wrote: "Just as important is the work we see being done behind the scenes to build a winning culture consistent with the club's traditions of attacking football played by youthful, hard-working teams fusing homegrown talent with top-class recruits.
"We are getting closer to those objectives as the squad continues to develop following the arrivals of Bruno Fernandes, Donny van de Beek, Alex Telles and Edinson Cavani.
"Our ongoing investment reflects the tremendous resilience of the club and our commitment to supporting Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], while remaining disciplined at an extremely challenging time."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: ed woodward, Manchester United, Premier League, tottenham, Jadon Sancho
