Ed Woodward: 'Less pressure on Leicester City in transfer market'

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has claimed that Leicester City's success this season is down to the fact that there is less pressure on the Foxes in the transfer market.

During a conference call with Man United's investors on Thursday, Woodward was asked why it was possible that Leicester could challenge for the Premier League title with a much smaller budget than their rivals.

Woodward paid tribute to Leicester for what could be a record-breaking campaign, but the 44-year-old also claimed that there is "more pressure on bigger clubs" to get things immediately right in the transfer market.

"Leicester is a fantastic reference point for everyone this year," said Woodward.

"We target quality players based on the huge amount of scouting we do and we try to do the best deal we can. There is pressure on bigger clubs to buy players who can hit the ground running, verging on world class immediately."

Man United's financial results for the second quarter, which were announced on Thursday, revealed that their commercial revenue had risen 42.5% to £66.1m.