I'm guessing (and this is really just a guess) that Woody is under some pressure to sign a big name, now that Di Maria, Van Persie and Falcao have gone. We've just signed huge deals with Adidas and Chevrolet, and I'm sure the money was not just to have their logos on our shirts. We're expected to play in the CL, we're expected to win big trophies, and capture the imagination of fans worldwide. And along with that comes having big names in the club. Our nett spend is apparently at 8mil. To the major sponsor, they'd be thinking "Wait a minute, I've handed you all this money to promote the club/my brand, raise your profile, and you've kept most of it instead?!?!"
But Woody has to balance these expectations with the football side of things. LvG wants the best players, while Woody wants big names. You put this two together, it means having at least one or two top stars. Right now, we almost have none. Schweinsteiger to some extent, and Rooney are the well known ones. That's why this talk of Bale, Muller and Neymar keep surfacing. Unfortunately, the biggest stars already play at the biggest clubs. So we're now literally throwing money at the biggest names on LvGs list. Neymar not a "United/LvG" type player?!?. Of course he is. Neymar, Bale, Messi, Ronaldo, Muller, Pogba etc would be literally on any managers wishlist, and on any marketing person's wishlist as well.
Problem is, Woody's got his timing all wrong. These clubs don't need to sell, can afford to turn down big money, and their biggest stars want to play for them. All well and good to pay a release clause, but the man doesn't want to leave the most glamorous and successful club today, and who can blame him? So all that's going to happen is ... Neymar will get a new contract that'll push his salary up to astronomical levels.
So in the end, Woody is still learning, and his naivety is still showing at the very high end of the transfer market. If I were him, I'd consider buying the decent and obtainable players (eg. Berahino? Draxler?) to fix the holes in the squad, give a good showing in the PL and CL, and show the money only next summer when we've restored some "Euro-cred".