5 bombshells in Jadon Sancho transfer saga as Chelsea and Man Utd consider swap deal
Jadon Sancho's dramatic time at Manchester United could be up as rumours of dramatic swap deal with Chelsea star Raheem Sterling swirl in the final days of the transfer window
Jadon Sancho's Manchester United nightmare could be coming to an end as rumours swirl he's off to Chelsea - with Raheem Sterling potentially going the other way.
The former Manchester City youth player's move to Borussia Dortmund saw him catch the eye of Europe's biggest clubs following a run of remarkable performances for the Black and Yellows. United eventually won the race for the winger, bringing him to Old Trafford for £72.9million in July 2021, and Sancho's blockbuster move looked to be the next big step for the youngster.
Since then however, Sancho's time at United has been beset by poor form, injury and a very public falling out with United manager Erik ten Hag. So, as Chelsea and United reportedly thrash out one of the biggest deals of the summer, Mirror Sport takes a look at just what went wrong for Jadon Sancho at Manchester United.
Falling out with Erik ten Hag
One of the driving forces behind Sancho's looming exit from United is his frosty relationship with Erik Ten Hag. Despite early promise between the two, with Sancho starring in the Dutchman's first pre-season with the club, Sancho's form began to dip, and an appearance against Chelsea in October 2022 proved to be his last in a United shirt for three months.
Ten Hag was reportedly concerned with Sancho's form and, after being omitted from England's 2022 World Cup squad, the winger was packed off to train in the Netherlands while his team-mates enjoyed a warm-weather camp in Spain. It was during this time that Ten Hag claimed Sancho needed to work on "a combination of physical but also mental” issues.
The start of the 2023/24 campaign yielded some success for Sancho with the player making substitute appearances in United's first three Premier League games. He was then left out of a squad to face Arsenal and Ten Hag, once again, cited poor performances in training as the primary reason for his absence.
Ten Hag said: "Jadon, on his performance in training, was not selected. You have to reach a level at Manchester United every day." This then led to the biggest bombshell of all between the two - a sensational Twitter post by Sancho in which the player pleaded with fans to not "believe everything you read".
The post went on to insinuate that Ten Hag was being dishonest and claimed he was being made a "scapegoat". In the wake of the tweet, the duo attempted to hash out their differences and are believed to have met up to clear the air.
While Sancho did eventually delete his inflammatory post, he allegedly refused to apologise to Ten Hag. On September 14th, United then released a statement saying that the player will “remain on a personal training programme away from the first-team group, pending resolution of a squad discipline issue”.
Being kicked out of the United WhatsApp group
After Ten Hag and Sancho's breakdown in relations, it was even reported that United's manager had taken things one step further by kicking the player out of United's WhatsApp group. The group was apparently run by staff to inform the first team of any updates and Sancho was said to be unhappy with the decision.
United sources also confirmed the situation between the 24-year-old and Ten Hag has reached an "impasse", with no way back for the player until he decided to apologise for his social media post.
A successful return to Borussia Dortmund
With Sancho not having featured for United since September 2023 following his spat with Ten Hag, he saw the January transfer window as a prime opportunity to reignite his career elsewhere. He rejoined his former club, Borussia Dortmund, on loan, on January 11th of this year.
The Germans reportedly paid a €4 million (£3.3million) loan fee to bring Sancho back to the Signal Iduna Park, and the switch proved to be a catalyst for the winger to rediscover his best form. “When I came into the dressing room today, it felt like ‘coming home’,” Sancho said after re-joining the German giants.
His performances certainly mirrored his statement as he helped Dortmund climb the Bundesliga table, and most notably, assisted his side's unlikely Champions League charge that saw them reach the final at Wembley. Stellar performances in the competition's quarter and semi-finals against Atletico Madrid and PSG respectively looked like Sancho had become the player of old, and he even sent a damming message to the 'non-believers' following the win in Paris.
Despite losing to Real Madrid in the final, Sancho was in a reflective mood after claiming on social media that he was "grateful" to be part of "an amazing group of players". In the same post he said that he felt like he was amongst "family" at BVB.
Sancho managed three goals and three assists in his 21 appearances for the Black and Yellows. It was understood that Dortmund wanted to bring the player back to the club on a permanent basis but United's steep asking price, believed to be in the range of £50million, meant they had to reconsider their options.
Back in favour
As recently as July, Ten Hag seemed to hint that Sancho had a future with United. Reports stated that the star had buried the hatchet with his manager and would be reintroduced to the United set-up.
However the saga took a strange twist once more. Speaking publicly for the first time since the pair apparently patched things up, Ten Hag claimed that their bad blood had simmered, yet he remained tight-lipped and evasive when asked if Sancho had a future at the club.
“As we said, we've drawn the line,” said Ten Hag. “Manchester United needs good players and Jadon is a good player. We have drawn that line and we move on.”
Just over two weeks into the new campaign Sancho has just played seven minutes under Ten Hag, which came in a substitute appearance in their Community Shield victory over Manchester City. The new dawn for Sancho looks to have set early and he now finds himself on the brink of a move away from Old Trafford once again.
Potential move to Chelsea
Sancho isn't the only winger at a top Premier League club to find himself in limbo. Raheem Sterling has been the talk of the town since being frozen out of the Chelsea set-up under their new manager, Enzo Maresca.
A stunning deal to take Sancho to Chelsea, and Sterling to United, is now reportedly being discussed. Despite the transfer deadline looming, The Telegraph have reported that Sancho is one of several players the Blues are looking at this week but a swap between the pair appears to be an extremely complex deal to get over the line.
If a move to Stamford Bridge doesn't materialise it looks like Sancho could be on his way to Italy, with Serie A giant Juventus also taking a keen interest in Sancho's situation. Regardless of where the Sancho ends up come Friday at 11pm he will be hoping it's at a club where he can once again let his football do the talking.
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