Ben Guest
Jadon Sancho may now have to submit a transfer request if he is to complete a big-money move to Manchester United after Borussia Dortmund insisted that he will stay at the club
Dortmund jetted off to Switzerland today for a pre-season training camp, with the England international pictured as part of the travelling squad. The 20-year-old had whipped social media into a frenzy having been pictured in the UK at the weekend, though it was simply for a party with friends, rather than to complete a big-money move as many had hoped.
The Bundesliga outfit have remained steadfast in their €120 million valuation of the player, though have also made no secret that they would be willing to accept the deal in structured payments over the next two years; The Independent having claimed that the two sides are only around £10 million apart in the valuation for what would be the initial payment.
The German side have also consistently briefed via the media that August 10th was a deadline for Manchester United to come to an agreement over the youngster, though reports in England have said that United considered the so-called deadline to be ‘meaningless’, with the transfer window still open until October 5th.
However, having arrived in Switzerland, Dortmund sporting director, Michael Zorc, was bullish in his stance that the winger will now not be leaving the club this summer: “We plan on having Jadon Sancho in our team this season, the decision is final. I think that answers all our questions,” Zorc told reporters on Monday.
“Last summer, we adjusted Jadon’s salary to match the development of his performances. So in context, we had already extended his contract until 2023 back then.”
However, the Dortmund supremo has form for this kind of sweeping statement, insisting that both Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would stay at the club in 2017 and 2018 respectively, only for both players to complete moves to Barcelona and Arsenal.
The report in the Independent said that Sancho ‘may have to take matters into his own hands’ to break the ‘stalemate’ in talks, and now, Daniel Harris of the Guardian has claimed that the winger will in fact ‘put in a transfer request’, and in doing so, ‘writing off his percentage’ of any potential transfer fee.
Meanwhile, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has reported that United have found it ‘unusual’ that Borussia Dortmund have so far insisted that the deal is conducted via an agent as opposed to directly, while the Red Devils are also ‘frustrated’ with the pace of the talks thus far.
It seems as though this particular saga has plenty of legs in it yet.
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