Manchester United confirmed the departure of chairman Ed Woodward on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old Woodward will be leaving the club at the end of 2021.

“I am extremely proud to have served United and it has been an honour to work for the world’s greatest football club for the past 16 years," Woodward said in a statement. “The club is well positioned for the future and it will be difficult to walk away at the end of the year."

The news comes in the wake of the backlash against United for its part in the establishment of the Super League. The league itself appears to be on tenuous ground on Tuesday with multiple reports that four of the 12 "Founding Member" clubs - Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid - are dropping out.

Woodward, 49, joined United upon the Glazer family's purchase of the club in the commercial and media relations department. In 2012, he was promoted to vice-chairman and he ascended to the Red Devils' top operational job the following year after the departure of David Gill.

“Ed Woodward has served the club with great distinction," co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a statement. "On behalf of everyone at United I would like to place on record our sincere thanks for his tireless work and dedication. His contribution to the club has been massive, and he will always be welcome at Old Trafford as a part of the Manchester United family.”

Woodward's transfer strategy and inability of the club to land transfer targets has long been a source of criticism from United supporters, with the club's protracted and, ultimately, fruitless pursuit of Borussia Dortmund's England winger Jadon Sancho the most recent example.