Manchester United are expected to make their first formal offer for Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho next week in the closing stages of the transfer window. But it will also be their last offer in what is being described as a ‘take it or leave it’ situation.
United have had their eye firmly fixed on Sancho for the past year and were confident as early as last September in their perceived ability to conclude a deal for the player this summer.
But despite an understanding that Sancho would be willing to join the Old Trafford club and take over the iconic number seven shirt, there are just 10 days of the transfer window left and no deal has yet been done.
Dortmund set their own 10 August deadline, which United ignored, and have given public statements through several senior club officials that they expect him to stay. They are also said to have been left ‘bemused’ by the way their English counterparts have approached things.
Contact from Old Trafford has been mysteriously lacking.
However, the Daily Mirror now reports that United are finally ready to make their first offer for Sancho. It will total a £90m package, broken into a £75m up-front fee and £15m in add-ons.
If the add-ons are successfully triggered over time, it would make Sancho a new club-record transfer, exceeding the £89m fee that brought Paul Pogba back to Manchester in 2016.
But £90m, or €98m, falls well short of Dortmund’s heavily publicised asking price of €120m. The Bundesliga side have not budged from their firm stance, but the Mirror claims United are ‘confident’ their £90m proposal will be enough and consider it a ‘generous’ offer in the current climate.
It is said that regardless of it being United’s first offer, there will be no improved bids and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward will make it clear there will be no negotiation over the structure.
It is important to note that Dortmund are under no pressure to sell Sancho for less than their valuation. He has a contract until 2023 and has not been actively pushing for a transfer.
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