Manchester United have been linked to Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho for at least the last year with suggestions that the Old Trafford club would be making a move for the player this summer, which has been reported by most newspapers since before Christmas. However, with the coronavirus pandemic happening, there could be doubts.
Recently, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was asked by Norwegian television about plans for the summer transfer window, which will be delayed this summer as the domestic season, plus the UEFA Champions League and Europa League will not be completed until some point in August, meaning the transfer window will open then.
Many United supporters will be wondering what the club can pull out of the bag this summer with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward already suggesting that the big transfer fees will not be something that United involved themselves in this summer, but he could have been saying that to keep potential fees down this summer.
After struggling to break down Norwich City in the clubs Emirates FA Cup match on Saturday evening, United could benefit from the added creativity and ability to score from a player such as Sancho, 20. United struggled for more than 40 minutes to grind Norwich down eventually scoring the winner two minutes from the end of extra time.
I am not saying that Sancho would solve United’s problems but his addition, or a player like him wold go a long way to helping United solve a problem which is their inability to cause problems, most of the time, from the right-wing. United have bags of creativity with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba but they cannot always pull it out of the bag themselves.
United will need to solve some problems this summer as otherwise, another year will come and go with United underachieving and before you know it, a decade out of challenging for the Premier League title will have passed, which could then turn into twenty years or more. That is obviously me being over the top but the last seven years has been tough.
Solskjaer has not ruled out an approach for Sancho this summer but equally, he has not suggested it would happen either. Dortmund are reportedly wanting to receive £117 million for Sancho this summer so United will have a lot of work to do to land the player. When asked by Viaplay whether he would sign someone from Dortmund, Solskjaer said:
“I’m good at math, but I can’t answer that question. There are many good footballers on many teams.”
Solskjaer was then quizzed about the clubs transfer plans this summer as he and Woodward have already held positive conversations regarding the clubs strategy during the summer transfer window. Solskjaer confirmed the following:
“If something is in front of us screaming that it’s sensible, both from a sporting and a financial perspective — I know we’re going to try, but you can’t make any promises.
“We’ve [him & the owners] had a good dialogue the entire time, and we’ve had a plan for it since I signed in March [2019].
“The three months of lockdown and for how long we’ll have to play in front of empty stands, if we’ll play in the Champions League next season. There are many things like that which will be factors in terms of what we can do when the season is over.”
