Welcome to the summer silly season! And of course, you can’t say “summer transfer window” at Manchester United and not talk Jadon Sancho. (For the latest on the Tom Heaton and Kieran Trippier situations go here) (For even more United news and transfer talk, go here) Today we learned that there is still a sizable gap between United and Borussia Dortmund on just how much the clubs believe the player is really worth.
That said, Sancho and his camp are still said to be feeling very confident that the 21-year-old winger will get his transfer over the line this summer. The deal is closer to being done than ever before, but there is still a divide that must be bridged. Yes, both things are true.
The Manchester Evening News report that “United’s bid of £67 million was around £10m shy of Dortmund’s demand for an up-front fee for Sancho but Sancho’s representatives are confident the transfer will still go through.”
NBC Sports, citing their partners Sky Sports UK claim: “the two sides remain $13.3 million apart in terms of the transfer fee and add ons for Sancho. Dortmund want $121.2 million for Sancho, including add ons.”
Now we just need another article, which states the financial figures in Euros in order to complete the trifecta of currencies. Speaking of Euros, of a different variety, Sancho did not make the England squad for the opening win over Croatia on Sunday. We’ll see if he’s given an opportunity or not versus Scotland on Friday night.
With so much speculation and conjecture surrounding this proposed transfer for so long, and it still never having materialized, Jadon Sancho himself is reportedly pressing harder to make it finally happen.
The MEN Sport report says that the BVB star man is applying pressure to his agent, Emeka Obasi, to get this deal closed once and for all. If/when it is, there will be of course ripple effects. For Dortmund, selling Sancho means that they likely won’t part ways with Erling Haaland this summer, because getting rid of both at the same time would be extremely detrimental.
For United, they have positions of bigger need that attacking wing, so securing this acquisition is just the start of their summer shopping, not the end.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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