Jadon Sancho joins Chelsea – Man United winger completes Old Trafford exit

Now official 

Jadon Sancho will depart Manchester United on deadline day, despite reconciling with Erik ten Hag earlier this summer with Chelsea having reached an agreement to sign the winger. Both clubs confirmed a deal with just hours left in the transfer window. According to David Ornstein from the New York Times, Sancho will join the London club on an initial loan with an obligation to buy worth £25-30m according various reports. Sancho is then expected to sign a long-term contract with Chelsea.

Sancho was banished from United’s first-team squad last season after a disagreement with Ten Hag and the mercurial winger returned to Borussia Dortmund on-loan for the second half of the season. Sancho showed glimpses of his unquestionable ability in Germany and he dazzled against PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

The 24-year-old and Ten Hag patched up their differences ahead of pre-season and the Englishman featured regularly in pre-season. Sancho, however, was left out of United’s squad for their first two Premier League games. Juventus have shown serious interest in Sancho all summer but Chelsea have emerged as the frontrunners to sign the talented winger. According to Sky Sports, Chelsea are making progress in talks with United over Sancho with loan and permanent transfers being discussed. 

Why Jadon Sancho could leave Manchester United

There was enormous excitement around Sancho returning to England in 2021 after thriving for Dortmund in the Bundesliga. The former Manchester City starlet scored 50 goals and provided 64 assists in 137 games for the German giants and his market value soared to a record-high of €130 million. United paid €85m to sign Sancho but he failed to replicate his Bundesliga brilliance as he contributed just 18 goal contributions in 82 games – as the graphic below illustrates.

 Sancho was afforded a fresh start this season but he’s way down the pecking order at Old Trafford. Ten Hag handed him seven minutes off the bench against Man City in the Community Shield but he missed another crucial penalty at Wembley as United lost. Sancho’s absence from the squad against Fulham signalled his current predicament at United with Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad are expected to compete for the two starting berths on the wing. Sancho is unquestionably a better footballer than Antony but United will struggle to shift the Brazilian, while the Englishman has potential suitors.

Jadon Sancho to join Chelsea?

Enzo Maresca’s squad is already extremely bloated with the Chelsea boss only working with 21 stars, which leaves around 20 players surplus to requirements. Chelsea have a plethora of wingers with Raheem Sterling and Mykhaylo Mudryk surplus to requirements but Sancho has been linked by a reputable source.

And United’s belief that Chelsea would make a move materialised this week with the Stamford Bridge club making a move for the Englishman. It was initially reported that Raheem Sterling could move in the opposite direction to Old Trafford but that speculation has cooled with talks focusing on Sancho, primarily. But Sterling ended up joining Chelsea’s city rivals Arsenal instead. Sancho’s market value currently stands at €30m and it’s understood that United hold a similar valuation.