Jadon Sancho remains a Manchester United player with less than two weeks of the summer transfer window to go, but Roma are still reported to be doing all they can to get the winger to Italy before the deadline.
Sancho’s future has been unresolved since Chelsea paid a £5 million ($6.7 million) penalty fee to cancel an obligation to buy that was part of last season’s loan at Stamford Bridge.
The 25-year-old, once one of Europe’s brightest and most sought after young attackers from his days racking up goals and assists at Borussia Dortmund, was left out of Manchester United’s pre-season preparations to allow him to find a new club.
So far, even after Chelsea pulled out of a deal following a failure to agree personal terms, there have been a number of false starts with regard to his permanent exit.
Roma Deal Agreed
Roma are the latest club to chase Sancho and appear, as it stands, the most determined to secure a deal. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, a transfer fee starting at €19 million (£16.4 million, $22.1 million), potentially rising to €24 million with add-ons, has been agreed with Manchester United.
But what Roma haven't managed to do is agree the move with Sancho himself. A proposal is already thought to have been turned down.
Widely reported to earn the equivalent of €14 million in salary, it would likely take a major pay cut to join any new club. La Gazzetta suggests that even a drop by almost 50%, down to €9 million, is still a “significant sum” for Roma to scrape together.
Yet there is said to also be a more difficult “issue” to work out.
Juventus, Atlético Madrid ‘Frightened’ Off
It is claimed that Sancho’s representatives are demanding “high commission” on the deal, although not necessarily disproportionate in relation to the numbers involved.
However, that is still alleged to have “frightened” off other potential suitors like Juventus, whose interest also hit a wall after signing Francisco Conceição for big money first, and Atlético Madrid.
The suggestion is that Manchester United are trying to help convince Sancho to take Roma’s offer and simultaneously “bring his agents back to their senses”.
British Players Reinvented in Serie A
Although the league once chewed up and spat out UK legends like Denis Law, Jimmy Greaves and Ian Rush, there is a recent history of British players moving to Serie A and reigniting their careers.
Scott McTominay played a central role in Napoli winning last season’s title, Ashley Young won it with Inter in 2020–21 when he had appeared on the brink of retirement, Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are important players at AC Milan, while Chris Smalling had five solid years at Roma.
Sancho himself is no stranger to rolling the dice with a move abroad. He was just 17 years of age when he opted to leave Manchester City’s academy for Dortmund, where the path to senior football was clearer, which subsequently proved to be the making of him.
READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMORS FROM WORLD SOCCER
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Jadon Sancho Hasn’t Found a New Club Yet.