Man Utd in pole position for rattled Sancho, Liverpool option remains

Manchester United think they are in pole position to land Jadon Sancho next summer despite the very real prospect of missing out on Champions League football for the second season running.

That is the claim from the Daily Telegraph; United “believe they remain the frontrunners” to land the talented 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund star.

Of course the England attacker is being tracked by a  host of Europe’s top clubs with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona “also among those keeping a close eye on Sancho’s situation”.

And relations between Sancho and Dortmund have been “strained” recently, which has only fuelled speculation that this season will be his last in the Bundesliga with two years remaining on his deal next summer.

Only last month Sancho was left out of the squad by Lucien Favre, who cited “a disciplinary measure” adding that “everything else will remain internal”.

It’s understood the former Man City youth star Sancho was late back from international duty with England.

Sporting director Michael Zorc said Sancho was “testing the boundaries” after growing up very quickly in Germany.

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And this week the Athletic claimed Sancho had been left feeling “humiliated and scapegoated” after he was recently substituted in the first half of the 4-0 defeat to Bayern Munich.

Favre said Sancho’s withdrawal on 36 minutes had nothing to do with pre-match concerns over the player’s fitness and was a a sole consequence that his performance was “not good enough”.

It has left United rubbing their hands. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to sign Sancho last summer but Dortmund refused to sell the player, whose value could top £100million.

 

 

Apparently United “consider him a priority target” as they continue to build a squad of young, talented players.

Liverpool are also interested but Jurgen Klopp, per the source, does not want to get into an auction for Sancho and the German coach’s “ultimate ambition” would be to sign Paris Saint-German star Kylian Mbappe.

However, with Real Madrid’s charm offensive for Mbappe underway and the huge price tag that comes with the France forward, Liverpool are keeping their options open and hoping to exploit Klopp’s strong ties with his former club Dortmund.