United Can Forget About Sancho This Window

It’s becoming abundantly clear that the likelihood of Jadon Sancho joining Manchester United during the current open transfer window is slim to non-existent.

Dortmund have dug their heels in and won’t budge from an asking price of £108m. United say it’s too high and structured a deal worth £91.3m. The almost £17m gap has proven unsurmountable with neither club willing to budge from their stated positions.

The timing of Sancho’s respiratory illness arising at the same time as United’s latest bid appears to be coincidental.

United will now look to other options. Dortmund remain confident they can keep Sancho for another year and still sell for £100m or more, provided United’s interest is maintained. And even if United were now to meet their asking price, the feeling is that Dortmund have made their mind up not to sell in this window.

United will now divert their attention mostly to Ousmane Dembele and Watford’s 22-year-old right-sided attacker, Ismaila Sarr. Edison Cavani and Luka Jovic have also been mentioned, but Solskjaer’s requirement is more for a right-sided attacker rather than central operators like Cavani and Jovic. Anyhow if United was hot on Cavani (33), they’d have probably concluded a deal by now. The player is a free-agent so its one that even United should be able to get over the line rather smoothly, if the interest is there.

They are still likely to pursue Sancho in the next transfer window, so whomever comes in may only be ‘keeping the position warm’ for a season. There is enough conjecture around Dembele’s lack of desire to leave Barcelona, so a 12-month loan deal could suit both parties.
Any decision over Senegalese international Sarr can be deferred until 16 October, the deadline for domestic-only trades between the EPL and EFL, so United has more wriggle room in respect of timing should this become the preferred option.

United is still working on the transfer of Brazilian left-back Alex Telles from Porto, which will cover another of Solskjaer’s requirements, but the addition of a centre-back, also an Solskjaer identified requirement, does not look like materializing before the 5 October international deadline.