Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are reported to be less than £11 million apart in their respective valuations for Jadon Sancho as a deal seemingly edges closer.
The wingers future has dominated headlines for some time now, with Manchester United strongly linked and widely expected to have completed his signing last summer.
Fast forward 12 months and the Old Trafford outfit are back in for the England International, and Dortmund have seemingly dropped their asking price, the German side now said to be wanting a deal in the region of €100m (£86m) including add-ons.
Reports on Thursday emerged that United had seen a £67 million bid knocked back, though The Athletic say that with add-ons included, the Red Devils bid totalled £75.5m, taking them to within less than £11m of Dortmund’s valuation.
They say that the deal is now ‘largely down to the nature of the bonuses’, with Dortmund said to be ‘open to add-ons making up a part of the final figure’. They do however want the add ons to be ‘realistically achievable’, the Red Devils having developed a reputation of trying to include some wildly unrealistic add-ons in their most high profile deals.
The report adds that the Premier League runners up are keen to ‘spread most of the fee over instalments’, something which Dortmund would be willing to agree to – the BBC reporting yesterday that they want it spread over four years rather than the five proposed by United.
Despite a slow start to the campaign following his failed move to Old Trafford, Sancho finished the 2020/21 season with a hugely respectable tally of 16 goals and 14 assists across all competitions, including two goals and an assist as Dortmund claimed victory in the DFB Pokal final against RB Leipzig.
The Athletic report claims that personal terms will ‘not be a problem’, with Sancho now ‘pushing’ for a return to England, though is still being ‘respectful’ to his current employers.
After years of speculation about his future, it finally feels like this long-running saga could be edging towards a conclusion.
