Signing £100m Sancho would be another panic buy for United
JADON SANCHO continues to be linked with Manchester United and their ambition is to sign him before the transfer window closes. I really hope they don’t.
It would be the headlinegrabbing deal of the summer — and the most expensive. But the finance involved would create enormous pressure for everyone, not least a 20-year-old who’s far from developed.
Don’t get me wrong, Sancho (below) is fabulous. I’ve followed his path since Joleon Lescott told me about a 15-year-old at Manchester City’s Academy who was ‘the best kid I’ve ever seen’ at that age.
He’s bursting with promise and, one day, I can see him taking off. If you put someone in the wrong environment at the wrong time, though, promise can flounder and I’m concerned if he joins United now it could be detrimental. It’s as if United are chasing a status transfer rather than working to a proper plan.
Is it just to make the fans happy? Another sign of panic? The thing that confuses me is they also seem to be buying players nobody else is bidding for, such as Donny van de Beek.
It never used to be this way. United signed superstars. They added cleverly to their squad each year and that allowed them to dominate, but the landscape began to change when City signed Carlos Tevez in 2009 and it has led United to where they are now.
In those first sessions with us, I was looking at him thinking: ‘How have they let him go’?
Carlos carried us for a couple of seasons as the Abu Dhabi venture took off. He showed that City meant business and were a serious destination. He had his troubles, like refusing to come on in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich and then going on strike. But if he hadn’t have come back that season, we wouldn’t have won the title in 2012. Tevez’s influence was huge. If City target a player nowadays, they’ll pretty much get them. Can you really say the same about United?
This is what worries me about the Sancho saga — United love the razzmatazz of a big signing, but think of all the times they’ve made massive investments in the last decade and it hasn’t worked out. I’d hate it if Sancho found himself scrutinised like Paul Pogba.
Sancho made a big decision to leave City for Borussia Dortmund back in 2017. He told the club that if he wasn’t going to get starting chances, he wanted to explore his options elsewhere. It was a brave call.
Each year he’s progressed. One goal in his first season, 12 the next, followed by 17 last season. Sixteen assists, too. He is a footballer going places. If you are spending £100million, though, there has to be more than promise.
Also what happens to Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Antony Martial if this deal is done? One of them would have to make way because no club spends £100m on a player to be on the bench.
Old Trafford was once the place to be for this kind of transfer, but not any more. Sancho should remain where he is. He doesn’t need to be United’s latest panic buy.