Man Utd only option left for Liverpool target Jadon Sancho – Castles

Manchester United have been lifted in their pursuit of Jadon Sancho after transfer expert Duncan Castles’ latest claims over the Borussia Dortmund winger.

The 19-year-old has blossomed in Germany and is now a full England international with 11 caps and destined for a place in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad.

The attacker has scored 13 goals this season with 14 assists from his 21 Bundesliga appearances, on the back of 13 goals and 19 assists last season for BVB.

The winger has regularly been linked with moves to both United, Liverpool and Chelsea and those reports look set to up a notch after Sky in Germany went big on claims that Sancho will leave Dortmund this summer.

“He will leave Dortmund this summer, that’s for sure,” Sky in Germany reporter Jesco von Eichmann said earlier this month.

“It’s not clear to which club he will change.

“Manchester United is one of the big clubs that are interested, that I’ve heard.

“Michael Zorc, the director of Dortmund, said last week in an interview that he hasn’t had an offer for Jadon Sancho yet. Today, I asked him again, and he just smiled!

“There will be some offers for Sancho in the future. He is improving. He was very tired at the end of the first part of the season but now he’s very fit and performing very good. He improved his behaviour.

“He had some trouble coming in on time – he came more or less late every day. He changed that and he is really improving.

“He is working hard in training so (head coach) Lucien Favre is pretty happy with him right now.

“I guess he thought over some things in the winter break and now he is working like the professional that he wasn’t before.”

And while the winger is expected to cost in the region of €150m (£126m), there is a school of thought that suggests it is money United are willing to pay given they could get 10 solid years from a player tipped to one day win the Ballon d’Or.

However, Duncan Castles has discussed Sancho’s future and suggests developments at Chelsea and Liverpool now means a move to Old Trafford may actually be the teenager’s only option this summer.

Castles said: “There’s an indication that Dortmund are ready to sell in the summer, they’ve got the development they think they can get from him, they’ve raised his value to the point where they think they can get over €100m. The agents are trying to get the best environment for Sancho.

“With [Hakim] Ziyech signing for Chelsea, it makes it difficult for Chelsea to sign Sancho. [Frank] Lampard was opposed to bringing Sancho in the January window and didn’t want that scale of transfer to be associated with him as his first big deal at Chelsea.”

Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol claimed in the week that the influence of Jurgen Klopp will seal the deal for the Premier League champions elect.

Sancho too costly for Liverpool

However, Castles, while conceding Liverpool do have an interest, reckons the asking price is way beyond what Liverpool are prepared to spend and he insists they would not upset their senior stars by paying the youngster over the odds.

“Liverpool like Jadon Sancho a lot but they’re briefing that they don’t want to overpay for him and don’t want to overpay his wages for his type and age which could cause dressing room problems,” Castles added.

“So that probably limits Sancho’s realistic option to Manchester United now.”

In other United news, meanwhile, it’s claimed that the club could consider the sale of one of their big-name attackers this summer in order to help fund a triple summer splurge.