Manchester United look to have been given a boost in their reported pursuit of Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho.
The Bundesliga outfit have a strong reputation when it comes to developing top players, so much that they claim not to buy superstars but make them instead. It’s a hard one to argue when you take a look at the young players who signed for Dortmund before thriving and then moved on for bigger contracts such as Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Christian Pulisic and many others.
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, 19, is destined to follow in their footsteps, as is Sancho.
The England international is one of the most sought after young talents in the game at the moment after a remarkable rise in the Bundesliga. There has been plenty of speculation about where he might end up next after his best season yet in a Dortmund strip.
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Sancho has scored 27 and assisted 19 times for BVB in 35 games. That’s an incredible showing of consistency to show at 20-years-old.
A leading agent has talked up United and Paris Saint-Germain as being the only likely contenders for Sancho’s signature when the transfer window opens this summer, whilst stating that the player’s preference is to return to England.
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The unnamed agent spoke to leading MUFC journalist Andy Mitten (via South China Morning Post), saying: “No matter how good Sancho is, there’s actually a limited market for him right now. Dortmund won’t sell to Bayern Munich, not just because they’re their biggest rivals but Dortmund are in a better financial position than when they sold players in the past like Lewandowski.
“Liverpool are not in the market for £100 million players and they don’t need him. I’ve dealt with Klopp — they’d rather pay half that amount for a player a step or two behind Sancho who they think can improve.”
As expected with Liverpool, to be honest. Klopp won’t spent this level of money on his attack when it’s as strong as it can be given their preferred style of play.
But when you watch Sancho and consider his wage, this is a superstar in the making, and United could be in a position that they can’t say no to signing such a talent.
Sancho, like Luke Shaw, grew up supporting Chelsea. But that didn’t make a difference when José Mourinho tried to take the left-back to Stamford Bridge because he choose to join United after leaving Southampton.
The agent goes on to dismiss speculation linking Chelsea with Sancho as well as a potential return to Manchester City, adding: “I’ve read the Chelsea speculation and I’m convinced that it’s the agents ramping up the talk to try and create an auction situation which would suit them and Dortmund. Chelsea will lose Pedro and Willian for nothing when the season ends. They let Morata go and brought Tammy Abraham back on loan. They took Higuain on loan. They’re not going crazy any more.
“They [City] should never have sold him but they know him too well and they know there’s a bit of baggage with Sancho. Dortmund know he’s a great player and they are ready to sell on him after a very good season, but he’s not as punctual as he could be and has missed team meetings.”
Hopefully the baggage Sancho apparently brings is on a smaller scale than, say, Paul Pogba but at least he’s not represented by Mino Raiola!
Moreover, a move to Spain is unlikely according to the agent in question, with Sancho set for a switch in England or France instead.
“Real Madrid have enough players in his position. Barcelona need to cut their costs, not waste more on €100 million-plus players after doing it three times. In my opinion it leaves Man United and Paris St-Germain, but Sancho wants to go back to England. If United are clever they won’t spend €100 million on a player that Dortmund are ready to sell, more so if the markets are suppressed as I suspect they will be. I speak to all the major clubs. Nothing at all is happening in Italy right now. Spanish clubs have gone quiet – and understandably so. English and German clubs face the same uncertainty as everyone. Some clubs want to talk business, others are worried about more important things.”
Sancho would be a fantastic signing for United, as they need to make a statement signing in attack in order to make real progress next season.
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