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| Image from The Sun |
Borussia Dortmund have warned Manchester United they must sign Jadon Sancho by August 10th or the deal is off, according to reports. The Bundesliga club are not willing to get embroiled in a transfer circus throughout the summer after slapping a £108 million price-tag on the England winger.
Reports suggested United were only willing to stretch to £50million for the winger considering the coronavirus pandemic. That falls some way short of Dortmund’s £100m valuation, and they are not prepared to accept anything less as they feel they could still command that figure next year.
Sancho’s contract runs until 2022, which means Dortmund would be in a weaker bargaining position at the end of next season. Nevertheless, German publication Ruhr Nachrichtenreport that Dortmund have still demanded United make their approach to get the deal done by the end of the month, or forget about it for another year. Dortmund will also feel the constant transfer speculation regarding their key player could have a negative impact on the squad while they want a suitable time to find an adequate replacement.
According to Bild, Dortmund are holding all the cards by setting a deadline, putting pressure on United to make their minds up over Sancho’s future. It is reported in Germany that Sancho has already agreed personal terms with United and a fee between the two clubs remains the only stumbling block. Sancho is expected to sign a five-year deal in the red half of Manchester worth a lucrative £140,000-a-week. That is then likely to increase to £200,000-a-week over the course of his deal.
Despite United’s keenness to complete the transfer, it is believed they are stumbling over his fee for numerous reasons. One includes the financial impact COVID-19 has had on football with clubs forced to tighten the wallets this summer.
Solskjaer is also weighing up whether he needs to fork out such big money on Sancho following the emergence of Mason Greenwood. The Norwegian boss has been hugely impressed with his current crop of forwards with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba supplying Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Greenwood.
In any event they are quite content with retaining Sancho’s services for at least another season. Key to their concerns are memories of Ousmane Dembele’s transfer to Barcelona in 2017. While Dortmund were eventually able to command a huge fee for Dembele’s services, the timing of his sale at the end of August left little time for them to land a replacement. United’s spending could still be determined on where the club finishes in the table as they chase down a Champions League spot.
Solskjaer brought in Odion Ighalo on loan to give the side a traditional No.9, but the addition of Sancho would likely mean that Martial would be expected to fulfil the centre-forward role with limited resources left to spend big on a new striker.
This deal wont be easy for both clubs as Sancho is Dortmund’s prized possession and United expect Sancho to be their trump card as a rejuvenated Manchester United is expected to fight for the premier league next year. This deal has all the potential to run into the final day of the transfer window. Only time will tell whether Manchester United can pull off another Dimitar Berbatov in the transfer window.
