Report: Jose Mourinho, Ed Woodward Relationship at 'All-Time Low' over Transfers

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho's relationship with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is reportedly at an "all-time low" due to the pair's clash over the club's efforts in the transfer market this summer. 

According to Dominic King of the Daily Mail, unlike in previous summers—in which he acquiesced to Mourinho's transfer demands—Woodward is reluctant to loosen the purse strings further having spent over £70 million this window on Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant.

The manager is said to be "startled" by this reluctance, which has not been brought on by a lack of funds on United's part, and Mourinho will only be able to add to his squad further by first making sales.

It's fair to say Mourinho has not been a happy man during the Red Devils' pre-season preparations:

Per King, he has also expressed doubt over landing his transfer targets: "I would like to have two more players. I think I am not going to get two. I think that it's possible I will have one. And that one, I gave a list to my club of five names a few months ago. And I wait to see if it's possible to have one of these players. If it's possible, it's possible. If it's not, it's not."

Football writer Liam Canning sympathised but believes Mourinho should not be venting his frustration in the way he is:

Due to a combination of injuries and players being granted extended breaks after participating in the FIFA World Cup, the coach has embarked on United's pre-season tour of the U.S. without the majority of his first-team stars.

It hardly makes for ideal preparation ahead of the new campaign, and it also exposes a lack of depth in the squad.

A United team comprised of largely of reserves and youngsters—aside from Alexis Sanchez, Juan Mata and a couple of others—were comfortably dispatched 4-1 by Liverpool in the team's last friendly.

Like Canning, Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News also feels Mourinho is doing himself no favours with his reaction to the situation, but the club have not done enough to support him:

According to the Guardian's Jamie Jackson, despite Mourinho's public frustration he "retains the full backing of Manchester United’s board," who are sympathetic to his plight, and he has been informed he will not have to sell to buy.

To an extent, Woodward's aim of moving away from the mentality of throwing money at the team's problems is understandable given the club splashed out more than £600 million between Sir Alex Ferguson's departure and December 2017.

What's more, Mourinho could be getting more from the players he has, with the likes of Sanchez and Paul Pogba's potential yet to be fully unleashed at Old Trafford.

However, after finishing 19 points behind Manchester City last season and with many of their rivals strengthening this summer, United don't want to be left behind by failing to address the problems in their squad.