David de Gea and Marcus Rashford to sign Man Utd deals by May, hopes Ed Woodward

Ed Woodward hopes David de Gea will have signed a contract extension before the end of the season

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward says the club are hoping to agree a contract extension with David de Gea by May, while Marcus Rashford is another player in line for a new deal.

The pair would join Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young, Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay in extending their stays at Old Trafford within the current season.

In a conference call with journalists on Thursday, Woodward said the club are "hoping to finish off the final few" contract renewals before the end of the campaign.

Jose Mourinho and his staff received almost £20m in compensation

In announcing their second-quarter financial results, the club also revealed sacking former manager Jose Mourinho had cost £19.6m in compensation to the Portuguese and his staff.

Despite this, the club announced record revenues of £208.6m for the quarter, but wages are up by £8.2m largely due to those new contracts to Martial, Young and co.

Regarding the next permanent manager at Old Trafford, where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been in temporary charge since December, Woodward refused to discuss the club's intentions.

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward

"I'm not getting into that," he said. "The next communication will be when we announce the next manager."

On the subject of United appointing a director of football, Woodward simply said they are continuing to look at ways to make the club stronger, but gave no indication as to when that appointment might be.

Woodward described the last few months at Old Trafford as "eventful" and congratulated Solskjaer and Rashford on their respective Premier League Manager and Player of the Month awards for January.

0:40 Chris Smalling says Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title next season and retrieve the 2-0 deficit to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Chris Smalling says Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title next season and retrieve the 2-0 deficit to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

However, Woodward did admit the club's 2-0 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday had not been the result they wanted.

Woodward also joined those paying tribute to former youth team coach Eric Harrison, who died on Thursday aged 81, describing his passing as "especially poignant" for United, while underlining the club's commitment to young players.