Fabrizio Romano has offered a key update on Jadon Sancho’s move to Villa Park as Manchester United and Aston Villa continue to negotiate a deal on the final day of the summer transfer window.
A difficult sale
The Red Devils are desperate to shift Sancho before tonight’s 7pm deadline.
But the 25-year-old winger has proven a difficult player to sell after Chelsea chose to pay a £5 million cancellation fee to send him back to Manchester after his loan spell with the Blues last season.
Sancho’s wage packet – believed to be worth around £250,000 a week – is the main obstacle as he appears unwilling to sacrifice it with twelve months remaining on his contract at Old Trafford.
There has been interest from Serie A with Napoli, Juventus, and AS Roma all making advances to sign the Englishman.
Only Roma had an offer – a loan with a £20m obligation to buy – accepted by United, though Sancho rejected the switch to the Italian capital and the deal fell through.
There is also interest from Saudi Arabia and Turkey with both countries’ transfer windows closing later than the rest of Europe, meaning they offer a potential outlet to Sancho after tonight’s deadline.
But a new suitor has emerged for the wantaway winger – and it will allow him to follow the path of a former Red Devil teammate.
Villa make their move
Aston Villa were revealed to have made an enquiry to sign Sancho yesterday as news broke of United launching an explosive raid to sign Villans’ number one, Emiliano Martinez.
Initially, these moves were thought to have been linked, offering up the potential of a swap deal or Sancho being used as a “makeweight” in United’s pursuit of Martinez.
But Romano has clarified it is a “separate deal” for Sancho from Martinez, with the 25-year-old winger having to “decide his future today or eventually move to not-European club.”
🚨 Negotiations between Aston Villa and Man United continue on #DeadlineDay for Jadon Sancho.
Separate deal from Emi Martínez but both in same conversation, trying to get both agreements done.
Sancho has to decide his future today or eventually move to not-European club. pic.twitter.com/Qkv0elcCRE
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2025
Tweet: “Negotiations between Aston Villa and Man United continue on #DeadlineDay for Jadon Sancho. Separate deal from Emi Martínez but both in same conversation, trying to get both agreements done. Sancho has to decide his future today or eventually move to not-European club.”
It is not clear whether Villa are pursuing a permanent transfer or, in a similar manner to Marcus Rashford’s move to Villa Park in the winter window, a loan.
United will evidently prefer the former but, with less than twelve hours remaining, may be forced to accept the latter, particularly if Villa offer significant wage coverage as they did for Rashford last season.
Featured image Ryan Pierse via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
