Jadon Sancho to Juventus: The only way a deal can happen

Carlo Garganese

• 15 Nov 2023 10:50 CST
• 4 min read

Over the past week, reports of a January transfer for Jadon Sancho to Juventus have been intensifying.

There have been multiple reports that Juventus are interested in signing the exiled Man Utd winger.

However, right now this is a transfer that doesn’t really add up unless a number of changes inside and outside negotiations are made.

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For starters, Man Utd would prefer to sell Sancho permanently in January - and make as much of the €85 million they paid for Sancho back as possible.

That is just impossible for Juventus, who have been ravaged financially over the past few years by COVID, mismanagement and by being banned from Europe this term. They have just received another capital injection of €200m due to heavy losses.

Only a loan deal is possible for Juventus. And for that to happen, Man Utd will have to pay a large portion of Sancho’s wages. The Bianconeri cannot and will not pay his €15m per season salary. United will have to subsidise at the very least 50 per cent of the €7.5m he would be owed for the six months from January to July.

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On a sporting and tactical level, there are also a few problems.

Max Allegri plays a 3-5-2 formation, and so far this season it has finally started to produce some positive results for the manager after returning to the club in 2021. The Bianconeri are currently two points behind leaders Inter and play them in Turin next weekend after the international break.

Sancho is naturally a winger and from everything we have seen from him in his career, he is certainly not suitable to play in a two-man attack.

Allegri is already playing another winger, Federico Chiesa, out of position in the front two. This is a role Chiesa detests and he has struggled to play anywhere near his real level so far, though he also had a bad ACL injury in 2022. It seems inconceivable that both Chiesa and Sancho can be used out of position as central attackers.

It is also very debatable whether Sancho would accept a transfer to play as a centre forward. His next move will be crucial and it would be unwise for him to play in such a foreign role when trying to rebuild his career.

So, for Sancho to join Juventus, Allegri will have to change formation from his 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

It’s not impossible that he has this in mind. After all, Juventus were in negotiations to sign right winger Domenico Berardi from Sassuolo this past summer but a deal couldn’t be done.

But it would require a big shift from Allegri. It should also be noted that Juventus are very short on full backs who can play in a back four. Nearly all of their starting wing-backs this season - Filip Kostic, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah - are not full-backs.

So, as things stand, a Sancho transfer to Juventus doesn’t add up.

Allegri has in the past changed formation mid-season and he could opt to do it again.

Sancho will leave Man Utd in January

As for Sancho, he knows he simply must leave Man Utd after being completely frozen out of the squad at Man Utd.

It came after Ten Hag criticised Sancho publicly several weeks ago for his poor performances in training, which was followed by the winger essentially calling his manager a liar on social media.

Sancho has not been called up since the incident and now looks all but certain to leave Manchester United in January.

A return to Borussia Dortmund has been touted, while some Serie A clubs - such as Juventus - are also interested.

Sancho joined Man Utd from Dortmund for €85 million in the summer of 2021 but has been a complete disaster at Old Trafford.

He has scored just 12 goals in 82 appearances and has regularly been a bench player during his two and a half years at the club.

He has also lost his place in the England national team squad and he knows he must move in January if he is to have a chance of going to Euro 2024 next summer.