On transfer deadline day, and for many days and weeks before that, it was hard to avoid one dominant story.
Jadon Sancho was linked with a move to Manchester United for, well, most of 2020. And yet, as the deadline passed, the England forward remained very much a Borussia Dortmund player.
“United’s emphasis was supposed to be on proven players in the mould of Bruno Fernandes this summer and they have ended the window without occupying their priority position with a recognisable name,” Samuel Luckhurst wrote for the Manchester Evening News .
In Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri, United have added two players capable of providing a longer-term solution to their right-sided question, but neither look to be the answer right now.
So, what does this mean for United’s future pursuit of Sancho, if they do – as anticipated – return for the Englishman in a future window? And, on top of this, how does the news impact Chelsea.
In the immediate term, Chelsea will surely be buoyed by the news that one of their rivals for a top four spot has failed to strengthen in the manner they might have hoped.
United finished level on points with Frank Lampard’s side last season. Yet, with the Blues adding more than £200m worth of talent to their squad and United adding no senior faces aside from Donny van de Beek, Alex Telles and Edinson Cavani, Lampard will feel he has the upper hand over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Of more intrigue, though, is the prospect of Chelsea coming back in for a player who has certainly been on their radar in the past.
Back in August, when Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc laid out the club’s situation with regards to deadlines for a Sancho deal to be completed, Afriupdate reported that it could be good news for Chelsea.
“I assume that Jadon will go to the training camp on Monday and play with us for the coming season,” Zorc said at the time. And, while some interpreted this as Dortmund publicly playing hardball while privately offering some wiggle room on their asking price, the opposite has proven to be the case.
As the Athletic put it, “Essentially, United did not believe Dortmund would stay firm on the price-tag of €120million or their deadline of August 10, embarking on a long-running game of poker without realising that the Bundesliga club weren’t even at the table.”
The Athletic also notes that United looked at another target earlier in the year, only to be put off by a €100m price tag. That man, Kai Havertz, showed in his move to Chelsea that there was some room for negotiation in the market – just not in the case of Sancho.
While United seem certain to return in 2021, hopeful that Sancho’s price will be driven down by the fact that he’s a little closer to the expiry of his contract, they won’t be alone in the chase.
Liverpool have been mentioned as contenders for the Dortmund man’s signing, and a further financial hit to the German club may tempt Jurgen Klopp’s side back into the market, but Chelsea will surely fancy their chances as well.
Sancho has friends at Stamford Bridge – not least Callum Hudson-Odoi, who came through the England youth ranks with his contemporary when Sancho was still on the books of Manchester City and revealed earlier this year that the pair talk “every other day”.
While relationships like this might make the Blues believe they have the upper hand, and Hudson-Odoi isn’t the only England colleague with whom the Dortmund man is close, some will still ask whether they need to add him to a squad which has more noticeable gaps elsewhere in the squad.
Havertz has been just one of the big new additions this summer, with Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner also bolstering the front-line with their arrivals, while Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic are among the others ensuring few teams can compete with the Blues going forward.
However, if a player as influential and talented as Sancho, it can be fair to conclude you can’t afford not to bring him in.
Regardless, United’s hesitance to pull the trigger on a deal for Sancho this summer has certainly pushed the door back open for a number of parties in 2021. Chelsea have plenty of time to weigh up the pros and cons and decide if they want to dive back in.
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