At last Manchester United's most hated man leaves

When the news broke, on Three Kings Day, his daughter began to cry, his wife uncorked a bottle of champagne to celebrate and the press began to publish the

they had written for months: Ed Woodward (51 years old), the man Most hated by Manchester United fans, the banker who helped the Glazers take over the club and later became their right-hand man, will finally leave on February 1. His departure had been dictated since April last year, when the project of creating a European league exploded in his hands and he was forced to announce his future resignation. But, a self-confessed United addict, he never quite left.

Woodward leaves with the prestige of an economic manager intact: he has managed to grow the commercial potential of the Manchester United brand in times of crisis. But “football is football”, as Boskov used to say, and he has not been able to overcome the reality that the most successful club in England since the Premier was created has not won it for nine seasons (including this one, in which it is 22 points behind Leader). That decline, moreover, has coincided with the rise of the despised neighbor, Manchester City, and the awakening of the hated Liverpool, the great historical rival.

A physicist turned accountant and investment banker, Woodward gained the trust of the Glazers when, since 2003, he advised them on behalf of JP Morgan in the acquisition of United. In 2007 they put him in charge of the commercial department and in 2013 he was chosen to replace David Gill at the head of the club. But he was surprised when Sir Alex Ferguson announced in their first meeting that he, too, would be leaving at the end of the season. The first, in the front.

Critics and the public accuse him of having mismanaged the recruitment of coaches and players despite the fact that the Glazers, always accused of racanos, have invested more than 1 billion pounds in transfers since Ferguson retired. The first coach was imposed: Sir Alex had suggested that his successor be David Moyes, another Scotsman, who was succeeding at Everton. But he didn't give Moyes enough power to earn his predecessor's authority and he didn't give him time either: he fired him at eight months. It had taken Ferguson four years to win his first Cup and seven years to win his first League.

Woodward established that the future of United should be based on attacking football with players with the X-factor, academy, an arrogant team on the field but modest off the field and, of course, with a winning mentality. The one chosen to implement those commandments was Van Gaal, whose attacking football had evolved into possession football that required players United did not have. Then came Mourinho, who is not exactly an example of modesty or attacking football and who did not get the defenders he asked for. He was replaced by Solskjaer, a historic man whose legend is founded in an instant of glory in 1999 and who had never shown anything as a coach. Now there's Ralf Rangnick, a German who is expected to reinstate the authority lost since Sir Alex's retirement in the dressing room.

Woodward has signed dozens of players, but with little success.

The list is long and includes failures of the stature of Fellaini, Falcao, Di María, Schweinsteiger, Depay, Schneiderlin, Martial, Lukaku, Bailly, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan, Fred, Matic, Lindelof, Alexis Sánchez or Pogba.

Things seem to have improved (Jadon Sancho, Maguire, Varane, Bruno Fernandes) despite a dubious trend towards bargain-priced old glories like Cavani and Ronaldo.

Woodward will no longer be around to tell about it.

But he has spread joy everywhere: under his tenure, Crystal Palace have won at Old Trafford for the first time since 1989, West Brom since 1978, Sheffield United since 1973, Newcastle since 1972, Sunderland since 1968, Burnley since 1962, Cardiff since 1954 and Swansea City for the first time in its history.

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