If Chelsea want to break their transfer agreement with Manchester United over their deal for Jadon Sancho, they will be forced to pay millions.
The winger signed for the Blues in the summer of 2024 on a season-long loan that included an obligation to sign him at the end of the season for around £25million. Early form indicated that Sancho could become a bargain deal but his form has dropped off since, as has Chelsea’s form on the whole.
His promising star was captured in a substitute appearance against Bournemouth as he laid on an important assist for Christopher Nkunku to win the game with three assists in three games. Since then, it’s been two goals and five assists in total across 27 games in all competitions.
To put his current form into context, he has failed to net in his last 19 appearances and he has not registered an assist for two months which has led to reports that the club could pull out of their agreement with United.
If they are to do so, it could prove costly. It is said they would have to pay a ‘significant’ portion of the agreed transfer fee to get out of said agreement, making the initial loan deal an expensive one in the end.
However, it makes sense for the club to do so given that they are already set to welcome Sporting’s winger Geovany Quenda and there’s also the Brazilian young winger Estevao Willian who is set to arrive in time for 2025 Club World Cup.
Former Chelsea defender William Gallas backed Sancho’s talent but claimed that his recent form has not been good enough. Speaking to Stadium Astro, he said: “That player has talent. He’s a talented player, everybody knows this, but we don’t know why he can’t perform and can’t show what he can do.
“At Dortmund, he was magnificent. At Manchester United it didn’t work well for him. He came to Chelsea and at the beginning we saw that Sancho from Dortmund, but then he disappeared.
“I don’t know what the problem is, but at the moment he can’t stay at Chelsea because he has to do more.”
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Who could Chelsea sign instead?
With Sancho potentially leaving, and the additions of Estevao or Quenda on the horizon, there is certainly set to be some real change in their attack. The club is still waiting for the outcome of Mykhailo Mudryk’s failed doping test but he is still yet to be charged by the FA.
Three previous targets were revealed in January with the trio of Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens, Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho and Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams all drafted as potential options in the future.
With all three being young players, they are continuing to abide by their transfer policy but it is clear they need added quality in that position, with all three managing more goal contributions than the likes of Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Sancho and Mudryk this season.
At the bottom of the pitch, there is some discourse over the future of the goalkeeping position. With Robin Sanchez conceding the most errors leading to a goal, the Blues have been linked with Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher.
