Manchester United would be willing to pay £60 or £70 million for a single player

Thus far, the only business Manchester United have done this summer in the transfer window is a £2 million purchase of 20-year-old right-back Guillermo Valera -- presumably, the club will soon be spending more, however, it can be understandable if some supporters are feeling a bit antsy about the recent (lack of) dealings. When asked by the Sunday Times if the club would be willing to spend £60 or £70 million for a single player, new chief executive Ed Woodward responded concisely:

"Yes. Absolutely."

- Woodward

He also further elaborated on the way United will handling their transfer business in the future:

"I want to continue from where David Gill left us and David Moyes from Sir Alex. The way we worked with Alex was he would identify the transfer targets and take them to Joel [Glazer] and David [Gill], who would have discussions which ended with them backing him in the transfer market every single time and we see that continuing with David Moyes. We could have broken the transfer record in the past if we'd wanted to. Alex may not have got all the players he wanted but that was never down to not releasing funds. There's never been a cut-off price. We haven't got money burning a hole in our pocket but we have a strategy on player purchases and if David wants to go after a stellar player he can do that. What we will do is be careful with our money in the sense we're not going to go into the market as mugs. We look at the value of the player compared to other players in his position. There's no mysterious process."

- Woodward

Well, £60 or £70 million for a single player could only realistically mean two footballers for United: Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. And neither player is likely to arrive at Old Trafford in this transfer window.

Now that United have officially lost on the Thiago sweepstakes to Bayern Munich, it'll be interesting to see which players they focus in on. If the club hardly spends this summer, the company line will likely be that there simply wasn't that many players out there that the club wanted. We badly need midfielders, though, so it will be incredibly discouraging if United don't buy at least one. While I suppose it's somewhat pleasant hearing Woodward say that the club is willing to spend some of the money from their incredible revenue streams, I'd rather just see them actually do it and acquire good footballers that will help us defend the title. Title-contending rivals Chelsea and Manchester City have already geared up and they will both continue to do so as the summer progresses.