Manchester United’s wantaway winger Jadon Sancho has reportedly been put on the transfer market by the club. The English winger has been the subject of transfer speculation all summer and is expected to leave the Red Devils by the close of the window.
Sancho returned to the 20-time English champions after spending the second half of last season on loan at Borussia Dortmund. The attacker made 24 appearances for the Bundesliga side and made six goal contributions – three assists and as many goals – as Dortmund reached the Champions League final.
Sancho initially signed for Manchester United in a highly anticipated £73 million move in 2021. His return to English football hasn’t gone as expected, with 12 goals in 79 appearances for the club across two and a half seasons.
Manchester United manager explains Sancho’s absence from the matchday squad
The 24-year-old was brought back into the Manchester United first-team squad for pre-season. However, he was left out of the matchday squad by manager Erik ten Hag, indicating that the former Borussia Dortmund attacker does not feature in his plans for the campaign.
Speaking to the press ahead of the clash against Brighton, Ten Hag explained the reasons behind Sancho’s omission from the squad.
“He’s here [at the stadium], but I had a choice to make,” Ten Hag said. “We had some issues, we need a full squad. He’s one of them. He has to compete in his position.”
The Dutch manager was coy about the transfer speculation surrounding Sancho and said that they need players for a long season.
“Game-by-game we will have a look. We need two players in every position because it is a long season,” he said.
Sancho, who has been linked with a move to Juventus, could also move to Stamford Bridge in a swap deal involving Chelsea’s castaway attacker Raheem Sterling.
However, football pundit and former English winger Paul Merson cast his doubts over the United attacker joining Enzo Maresca’s side. He told Sportskeeda that he doesn’t see the move happening as the west London club need a goalkeeper and a striker but not a winger.
“There’s talk of Chelsea wanting to sign Jadon Sancho. But honestly, I don’t see that happening. Chelsea don’t need another winger, what they need is a goalkeeper and a centre-forward,” Merson said.
According to BBC Sport, Manchester United are looking at offloading Sancho, but at the right price. With the transfer window set to close on August 30, the club face a race against time to close the deal.
