Louis van Gaal has been given permission by Manchester United to break the world record transfer fee to sign the right player.
Real Madrid set the record by signing Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for £86 million, eclipsing the £80 million they had paid United four years earlier for Cristiano Ronaldo.
“It’s difficult to deal in hypotheticals based on lots of different things,” Ed Woodward said. “The reality is that we’re not afraid of spending significant amounts of money in the transfer market.”
The club’s executive vice-chairman added: “Whether it’s a record or not doesn’t really resonate with us. What resonates is an elite player that the manager wants who is going to be a star for Manchester United."