Time for another round of Manchester United transfer talk, and this edition focuses on two forwards- on loan from Shanghai Shenhua striker Odion Ighalo and Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho. Happy Der Klassiker day to the entire football supporter world.
Sancho, just as he has in the first two matches of the restart, began the rivalry match on the bench. Still nursing a calf strain, he came on to begin the second half, where BVB were already down 1-0 to Bayern Munich. Sancho’s absence from the starting XI has of course ramped up transfer speculation within the fan bases of the club’s that may sign him this summer.
Football London has a great post today on Chelsea fans believing that the English international’s place on the bench means he’s off to southwest London. Meanwhile former BVB midfielder Steffen Freund believes Sancho should snub United (the current favorites to sign him) and stay at Dortmund.
“Jadon is ready to play for Liverpool or Man United, no question, because his stats are unbelievable. That shows that he can take the next step,’ Freund told talkSPORT.
“In the Borussia Dortmund side with [Erling] Haaland, [Julian] Brandt improving, with Emre Can signing, with changing to a back three that suits Sancho.”
“It would be good for him to play for Borussia Dortmund now and next year so that he will have more match time.”
Freund’s observations may be on point, but you definitely didn’t see that today. Clearly, Sancho is nowhere near 100% fit, and it looks like the quarantine has hit him a lot harder than it his most people.
Sancho is a top trending term on Twitter right now, and that’s due to his playing very substandard in the second half, and looking very out of shape. Below you’ll see two of the more tasteful and professional tweets articulating this idea.
We’ll refrain from sharing the more coarse Twitter postings on this topic.
Sancho doesn't look like he's moving freely at the moment.
— Raphael Honigstein? (@honigstein) May 26, 2020
Sancho just doesn't look anywhere near fit to be honest
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) May 26, 2020
Moving on, it’s time for the latest update on the Ighalo situation. Overall, it just doesn’t look like he’ll be able to stay at United.
“The loan deal went until the end of May now, so obviously he’s supposed to be going back,” Solskjaer told club web channel MUTV today.
“We’re in dialogue. They’ve been great towards us, his club, and allowed him to play for his dream club.”
“It’s been a dream for him and hopefully he can finish off what he started, hopefully with a trophy for us. At the moment, nothing has been agreed. Their league is going to get started soon so we’re just waiting to see.”
According to Sky Sports, Shanghai are looking for either a permanent transfer for $25 million, or an extension of his current loan with an obligation to buy at a later date. Shanghai expect Ighalo, who is contracted until 2022, back in China to begin the 2020 Chinese Super League season in late June.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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