Man Utd's radical rethink: Sancho form forces Ratcliffe into Plan B

Robin Bairner

• 4 Mar 2024 13:30 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United want to sell Jadon Sancho during the summer transfer window but the prospect of the Red Devils doing that are increasingly small.

After Sancho fell out with manager Erik ten Hag in September, he was exiled from the Red Devils’ first team. Though the winger was hawked around Europe’s biggest clubs in January, no suitors were willing to buy him.

Instead, a loan deal with Borussia Dortmund was brokered. It was hoped that returning under the wing of Edin Terzic might bring him back to his best level, yet the 23-year-old has been disappointing back in the Bundesliga.

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Sancho grabbed an assist on debut against Darmstadt then won a penalty versus Koln a week a later, yet in his five subsequent appearances, he has produced nothing.

This is a far cry from the player who posted 116 goal contributions in 134 matches during his previous spell with the club.

United had hoped that either Dortmund would take him back permanently this summer or that he would perform so well that another top team would be tempted to sign him.

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Unfortunately for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his new backroom team at Old Trafford, neither has happened. As such, Man Utd are liable to face the same problem with Sancho this summer as they did in the summer, namely that they cannot sell him because of his wage demands.

For Ratcliffe, this is not an ideal scenario. Man Utd need to sell in order to comply with the Premier League’s sustainability rules and much of the club’s deadwood is likely to be tough to move on for similar reasons.

As such, it’s about damage limitation and getting wages off the books.

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What is Man Utd’s stance on Sancho?

Talks between the Red Devils and BVB could prompt something of a transfer rethink, HITC reports.

A permanent deal is all but off the cards, but United could seek to limit the damage by trying to broker another loan deal with Dortmund for a player whose contract expires in 2026.

This would give Sancho a second chance at increasing his transfer value before the summer window of 2025 gives Man Utd one final chance to offload him for a substantial transfer fee.