Jadon Sancho’s exit from Manchester United is looking complicated but there is one potential way to overcome the major transfer roadblock this summer.
Manchester United loaned Jadon Sancho to Chelsea at the beginning of last season, with the London club initially committing to a £25 million obligation to make the move permanent.
Sancho had been sidelined by Erik ten Hag after publicly accusing the manager of using him as a scapegoat. Following the dispute, the winger was excluded from the first-team squad and only featured in pre-season before completing a temporary move to Stamford Bridge.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that Chelsea could exit the agreement by paying a £5 million penalty to United.
It was confirmed earlier this month that Sancho will not be joining Chelsea on a permanent basis. Negotiations collapsed after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on personal terms.
Sancho transfer roadblock solution explained
Sancho is currently earning around £300,000-per-week at Old Trafford and that has been considered as the major roadblock in any potential exit.
There are several clubs interested in the winger this summer, including Borussia Dortmund, but none of them will be willing to pay him wages anywhere near that.
Financial expert Stefan Borson has tipped United to subsidise Sancho’s wages to facilitate an exit in the coming months.
“He’s got one year left of his contract. The contract is enormous. At his age, I’m sure somebody will buy him. But it’s similar to the Jack Grealish situation,” Borson told Football Insider.
“Nobody is going to say here’s £15million and we’ll pay his wages in full. Nobody is going to say that. United are going to have to do something around subsidising the deal, paying him off or whatever.
“So, short term, it’s £5 million in the 2024-25 PSR calculation, but all it’s doing is kicking the problem down the road into the next accounting year.”
United must be cut-throat with exits
United have got to be cut-throat with their player exits otherwise none of these players will permanently depart the club this summer.
It has previously been suggested that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS admired the way the Arsenal board backed Mikel Arteta through terminating contracts and getting unwanted players out of the door by any means necessary.
Sancho is probably the first significant test of this. You can loan out players but the problem is still there. Getting him off the books entirely is what they need to do.
If that involves spending some cash to facilitate a deal, then it is something that the United board must consider doing.
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