Sancho to Man Utd would be Van de Beek 2.0 – Berbatov

James Shearman

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:45 CDT
• 2 min read

Ex-Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov thinks that signing Borussia Dortmund’s English wonderkid Jadon Sancho would be a mistake by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Bulgarian credits United’s recent success to having the perfect ‘balance’ of significant squad depth without having to leave too many star players out of the team.

Sancho would come at a huge cost, with Dortmund reportedly asking for £108 million (€120m), so Solskjaer would feel pressured to play (what would be) United’s club-record transfer.

“So, you sign Sancho and where do you play him? They will have lots of games in the Europa League and FA Cup, but then what happens to people like Donny Van de Beek? It would be Van de Beek two if they sign him. Yes, he is a great player but then do you just have too much talent,” Berbatov told Betfair.

“Cavani has been a great signing and do you drop him? You will not turn down Sancho and he is a good player and it is whether you want that luxury headache where you tell people you are rested today etc – it is not a good conversation, I am telling you from experience.”

Sancho had an excellent 2019/20 season in Germany, registering 17 goals and 16 assists in just 25 Bundesliga appearances, which led to speculation of a move to Old Trafford.

However, even though United maintained their interest throughout the window, chief executive Ed Woodward failed to lower Dortmund’s asking price and instead turned to the last-minute signings of Edinson Cavani, Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri.

The young winger had struggled at the start of the new campaign, but has since recaptured his prolific form with eight goal contributions in his last six games in all competitions.

Rumours of a stellar transfer to Manchester are sure to ramp up again this summer but ex-Man Utd man Berbatov isn’t convinced that his former club will go through with the deal.

“I still don’t think it will happen. The way things are going at the moment credit has to go to Ole and the players now. He has found the right balance about which players are playing. He has found that delicate balance with players not complaining and that is a difficult thing. The manager has taken the right decisions so far,” he said.

“If Sancho signed for another team or a rival it wouldn’t be a blow. Sir Alex Ferguson got rid of players because no-one is bigger than the club, they were replaced. That’s still the case, no one is bigger than Manchester United, so, I’m not expecting anything to happen.”