Manchester United have reported made a €100 million (£91.3 million) bid to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, which has been rejected by the Bunndesliga club according to Sky Sports. The 20-year-old is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s number one target this summer and United had a 10 August deadline to sign the player. There has been various messages coming from the German club since August suggesting that the player will remain at the club this summer, the latest being club captain Marco Reus. However, since then, the player has not flown to Munich for the DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich due to respiratory issues.
It may be nothing but in August 2017, Sancho angered Manchester City by claiming to be ill in a bid to force through a transfer. Could this be a similar matter? This is wishful thinking but should be kept in the back of your mind. It seemingly worked before – could it work again? It is probably nothing though as the player seems happy to continue playing for the club for another season and the fact he has not yet spoken out about the speculation surrounding him, and not suggested himself the he wants to stay at the club, the speculation will continue until the transfer window closes on Monday 5 October 2020.
United were told that they would need to spend €120 million to secure the signing of Sancho this summer and that was before the 10 August deadline to sign the player. Today, that would mean that United would need to offer a minimum of £109.5 million for there to be any chance of acceptance of their offer, which may or may not be the case. United were given an opportunity at the start of there summer transfer window and seemed to hold on to the last week of the transfer window to do anything about it. This may have cost United the transfer. Some will suggest that United have offered this amount knowing that it would be rejected with the club saying they tried.
Sancho would be the ideal player for United to sign, giving him the vacant number seven shirt at the club, which has been worn by the likes of George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo – to talk about the successful players to have donned the shirt. However, in the past 11 years, Antonio Valencia, Memphis Depay, Angel Di Maria and Alexis Sanchez have all worn the famous shirt to no real success. Last season, Sancho made a total of 44 appearances for his club, scoring 20 goals and 20 assists in all competitions, which would be great to add to the likes of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood at United.
This season, Sancho has made a total of three appearances, scoring one goal and two assists. The player, presumably would have been looking forward to locking horns with Bayern Munich in a chance to win the first domestic trophy of the season but with him being ill, he will miss the match. Earlier in the summer, it was reported that United had come to an agreement with the player’s representatives regarding personal terms and the fees involved to conclude the deal, however, not agreeing on a deal with Dortmund to sign there player. It may be that United will return with a better offer before the transfer window closes on Monday or just accept defeat?
Solskjaer would have liked the summer transfer window to have gone to plan with the club bringing in the players that he wanted to add to the squad to cover the strength in depth and quality issues in the squad which were glaring towards the end of last season. Fabrizio Romano has stated that Dortmund will not accept anything less than €120 million for Sancho this summer so United will need to pay that to get their man this summer. It might be that United are waiting on the imminent departure of some player with Andreas Pereira (loan), Chris Smalling and Diogo Dalot linked with exits this summer. The coming days may tell us more.
Written by John Walker
