Jadon Sancho to Juventus is a hot topic in the Italian football media.
The 25 year old will leave Manchester United one way or another this summer, after spending last season on loan at Chelsea.
Despite his disastrous last four years in football, which only afforded brief glimpses of the talent he had shown at Borussia Dortmund that led United to buying him, the Old Lady has convinced herself that she wants the cheeky chappie at the Allianz Arena.
The England international is keen. There has been one fly in the ointment, though, and that is Francisco Conceição. Juve were hoping to get FC Porto to reduce their €30 million buy option on the Portugal international and Sancho was merely a plan B should that deal fall through.
Light at the end of a four-year tunnel
However, this morning, as relayed here, Corriere dello Sport reported that United and Juve had informally agreed a deal that would take Sancho to Turin.
That report stated that the two clubs would either agree on a cash deal, with €25 million requested by United, or to a player swap with midfielder Douglas Luiz.
CDS also claimed that the Bianconeri were prepared to offer Sancho €7 million per year in wages but that the player was holding out for €8m. This would be the equivalent of £132,000 per week, a sizeable pay cut from his current United salary, which approaches £200,000 pw.
But in a fresh update this evening, CDS’ old rivals, Gazzetta dello Sport, have delivered a slightly different version of events.
Kicking United when they’re down
First it must be said that GDS is just as excited as CDS about the prospect of a deal. They claim that Juventus are “accelerating” for Sancho and that, crucially, they intend to pursue the deal regardless of whether they strike a deal with Porto to make Conceicão’s loan permanent.
GDS claim that “now the distance between Juve’s offer and the salary request is minimal (a couple of million to be spread over the entire duration of the relationship are in question).”
But then comes the kicker.
Juventus can see that “Sancho is only one year away from expiring, Juve is in pole position and wants to exploit the advantage by leveraging Manchester’s need to eliminate the cost of a player outside the squad.
“A possible containment of costs in the Sancho operation would allow the dialogue with Manchester United to continue and keep hopes alive for Conceiçao.”
Put simply, Jadon is sold on the deal and United have to sell him at any cost. So Juventus will push for a price reduction so they can also buy Chico when Porto finally come to the table.
It’s a problem for INEOS, but what United do have in their favour is time. GDS admits that “Sancho wants to know his future quickly and wants guarantees, before declining other offers.”
For that reason, the outlet claims that contacts will take place this week that should be “decisive in bringing the matter into its final phase.”
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
