Man Utd 'increasingly confident' of Jadon Sancho deal as talks get underway

Manchester United are in talks with Borussia Dortmund in the hope of finally agreeing a transfer for England winger Jadon Sancho, a player who has now been at the forefront of their recruitment plans for the past two years.

Sancho recovered from a disappointing first half of the 2020/21 campaign with Dortmund to finish on an impressive 36 combined goals and assists in 38 appearances across all competitions, while he could now potentially play a big role for England at Euro 2020.

Securing a right winger remains a transfer priority for United this summer and 21-year-old Sancho has long been seen as the ideal candidate.

90min first revealed way back in September 2019 that United were ‘confident’ of signing Sancho. They were willing to pay big for the ex-Manchester City academy player until the coronavirus pandemic hit, but Dortmund didn’t lower their valuation and the summer of 2020 resulted in an impassable stalemate over the price.

But United never lost their interest in Sancho, even when his form did dip at the start of 2020/21, and were confident that the gamble of refusing to meet his asking price last year would pay off.

90min revealed last month that United were hopeful of striking a deal worth £75m before Euro 2020. Although time is running out before the tournament kicks off, Sancho would prefer to have his future sorted beforehand and there is an acceptance from Dortmund that he will be sold.

The Athletic has now reported that United are ‘increasingly confident’ a deal will be agreed. Journalist Laurie Whitwell has separately tweeted that talks are ongoing, although there is still a £20m gap in the valuations each club places on the deal.

It could be that if United are willing to commit £80m, Dortmund would settle for £20m in add-ons. Clearly, there is still a degree of compromise that must be reached.

Last summer, United fell foul of Dortmund’s self-imposed deadline, which came nearly two months before the real transfer deadline in October. The Bundesliga side wanted to be sure that they would have sufficient time to replace Sancho and fully integrate a new signing if they agreed to sell, but the United hierarchy naively failed to take it seriously enough.

The BBC’s Simon Stone has reported that the situation is similar in 2021. Dortmund have an informal agreement with the player that they will sell him if his valuation is met but any deal must be done before their own deadline. It is not clear when that is going to be this time around, although last summer it was the start of their pre-season training camp.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!