Manchester United put in a lot of effort into offloading the infamous “bomb squad” this summer. Alejandro Garnacho and Antony departed on permanent transfers to Chelsea and Real Betis respectively.
Marcus Rashford, meanwhile, joined Barcelona on a temporary deal early in the transfer window.
Jadon Sancho had also been linked with a move away from Old Trafford all summer, and joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan on deadline day.
The Englishman spent last season on loan at Chelsea, but the Blues reportedly paid a £5m fee to get out of an obligation to buy him this summer.
Sancho hasn’t been in his element at Old Trafford
United were initially confident of offloading Sancho permanently this summer, but it turned out to be harder than expected.
After a transfer to AS Roma broke down, the loan move to Villa Park turned out to be godsend, especially since the Birmingham club agreed to cover 80% of his wages. However, with Sancho’s contract due to expire next summer, the Red Devils are already making steps to ensure he doesn’t leave for free in 2026.
Football Insider reporter Pete O’Rourke stated that the club are likely to trigger a one-year extension in the player’s contract.
“United, just to protect themselves and their asset, will probably take up that option to extend Jadon Sancho’s contract,” said O’Rourke.
“They want to ensure he doesn’t walk out on a free transfer next summer. The main thing for Sancho at the moment is to be playing football and playing regularly.”
The 25 year old has been an enigma at Old Trafford in recent years and struggled to live up to expectations since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
Sancho’s departure works to everyone’s benefit
O’Rourke went on to add that Sancho’s loan suits all parties involved, and could help elevate his stock ahead of next summer.
“The talent is there, there’s no doubt about that, so he’ll be looking to get back to his best. That situation would be good for everybody involved,” said O’Rourke.
“It would be good for United because it would put him in the shop window and potentially increase his price tag ahead of next summer. And it would be good for Sancho to be back playing at a high level.”
Sancho has registered 12 goals and six assists from 83 games across competitions for United to date.
It would be a big gamble for United to trigger the year’s extension of Sancho’s contract just to try to sell him, because if they were to fail, they would be stuck with another £250,000 per week problem for another twelve months. However, the better he performs at Villa, the more likely it is that they will take that risk.
Featured image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
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Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United fan since 2000. In his playing days, he was an attacking midfielder with a proclivity for the back heel. Right now, however, he prefers to operate as a regista. Deepungsu has been writing about the Red Devils, Football, and other things since 2009. His favourite Manchester United player is Paul Scholes.
