Jadon Sancho has been exiled from the Manchester United squad for some time now, and the club is ready to ignore the option to extend his contract.
Since signing in 2021 for a fee of around £72 million, Jadon Sancho has been severely underwhelming and has fallen out with multiple managers.
Sancho’s attitude is often his fatal flaw. Many reports suggest that the 25-year-old has failed to turn up to training on time, and the nail in the coffin came when Erik ten Hag exiled Sancho before his departure.
Sancho has an option in his contract for a one-year extension, in case the club wanted to keep him around without negotiating a renewal, which looks highly unlikely.
Ruben Amorim has expressed his desire to release Sancho from his duties at Manchester United. This was shown when he added the winger to a five-man exile squad that saw many United players be exiled from training.
United ready to let Sancho leave on a free
The attacker left this summer on a season-long loan to Aston Villa, and has not been persuasive in the two matches he’s featured in so far.
TeamTalk have reported that United have decided against extending Sancho’s contract and are willing to let him leave for free in the 2026 summer transfer market to make sure he departs in June.
“People talk about extending in order to avoid losing him on a free, but who is going to buy him? That’s been one of the big problems,” transfer journalist Dean Jones told TeamTalk.
“It is unlikely they are going to get anyone to pay a good fee for him unless he has an incredible season at Villa.”
Despite this, Aston Villa have sparked their interest in signing Sancho permanently when his loan deal ends, though reports suggest this depends on his performance in his year at the club.
Aston Villa also signed Sancho’s former United teammate Victor Lindelöf in the summer, as he left on a free. Sancho could follow suit, and as Villa are interested in signing him permanently, the winger is now effectively on a season-long trial under Unai Emery.
United must communicate decision ASAP
Time is ticking for the Reds. Sancho has already entered the final year of his contract, and his value is decreasing consistently.
After a mediocre loan spell at Chelsea last season, the London club had the option to sign Sancho permanently for a fee of £25 million, but decided not to due to his extortionate wage demands.
Chelsea ended up paying a fee of £5 million not to sign Sancho, which is telling about his current situation.
United will be looking to offload Sancho as soon as possible, due to his high wages consuming a significant portion of the club’s budget, with INEOS taking control of the day-to-day decisions and tightening the club’s expenditure.
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