When a transfer saga drags on for months then you assume that everything will work itself out eventually, so in many ways it’s fairly astounding that Jadon Sancho is still a Borussia Dortmund player.
Of course the surprise fades when you remember that Manchester United were the club who were trying to complete a transfer, but a report from The Express has looked at where the problems lie.
They quote The Athletic in saying that Ed Woodward did all he could to convince the board to cough up the money to sign Sancho, but they felt that Dortmund’s asking price was excessive and they didn’t want to spend that much due to the current situation.
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They confirm that United did make an offer but it was around £28m short of Dortmund’s demands, but it just further demonstrates how much of a mess the situation is at Old Trafford.
It’s clear that there’s a disconnect between Ed Woodward and the Glazers so that’s a big problem to begin with, while making the panic signing of Edinson Cavani shows how scattergun their transfer approach is.
There will be cynics who will wonder if this is Woodward pulling some strings in the media to try and take the heat off him, but it must be worrying for the fans when they see this.
It’s obvious that there’s no long term or joined up thinking behind the scenes at all, so being viewed as a credible title challenger still looks to be a long way off.