Manchester United have loaned Jadon Sancho out for the third time in two years as Rúben Amorim looked to clear his squad of unnecessary players.
Manchester United have spent almost two years trying to move Jadon Sancho on, but despite multiple offers for the former Manchester City youth product, a permanent transfer has never come through.
He spent last season on loan at Chelsea, though Enzo Maresca’s side chose to pay £5 million to send him back rather than trigger the £25 million option to buy.
United have continued to demand that £25 million figure and appeared close to an agreement with AS Roma earlier in the window, only for Sancho himself to reject the switch.
With just hours left before the English transfer window closed on Monday, Rúben Amorim’s side struck a deal for the winger to join Aston Villa on loan for the season.
How much United have made from Sancho’s loans
Sancho has been loaned out from United three times over the past two seasons. January 2024 saw him join Borussia Dortmund on loan for six months after he fell out with then-manager Erik ten Hag, which was then followed by a season-long loan move to Chelsea.
After returning from Chelsea, where the two parties could not agree on a long-term contract, the London club paid a £5 million fee to void their obligation to sign him for £25 million, and the English winger then sealed a loan move to Aston Villa on deadline day.
During his six-month stint at Dortmund, the German club paid around £200,000-a-week of his salary, and around £3 million in bonuses amid the club’s fantastic run in the Champions League, which saved and earned United around £7.8 million in wages and payments.
While at Chelsea, United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe admitted Sancho’s wages were split 50/50. Sancho’s wage dropped to around £220,000 a week that season after United failed to qualify for the Champions League.
With Sancho at Chelsea for 10 months and the London club paying £110,000 a week of his wages and the £5 million penalty fee at the end of his loan, United then collected and saved a further £9.4 million across those 12 months.
Finally, with Villa covering up to 100% of Sancho’s current wages plus paying a loan fee that could sit at around £3-4 million, United could save and collect another £12 million, totalling the amount recouped to just under £30 million.
Sancho could leave for free next summer
This 2025/26 season represents the final season of Sancho’s current contract at United, although the club do have the option to extend this by a further season should they wish to retain some of his value.
In normal circumstances, when a player heads on loan for the final year of their contract, a club will make them commit to an extended deal to stop them leaving for free once their loan expires at the end of June, but in Sancho’s case, United could forgo this.
While Amorim’s club may see Sancho’s Villa loan as a chance for the player to revive his career and command a potential transfer fee next summer, activating the extension also commits United to leaving themselves possibly liable to pay his wages for a further 12 months.
After recouping as much as £30 million in fees and saved wages across Sancho’s three loan moves, United may opt just to let the winger’s contract expire at the end of June 2026, as that would nail down that he would no longer become an issue for United to have to think about next summer, allowing all parties to move on.
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