It’s been a long and tough few months for Jadon Sancho at Man United, the attacker cast aside by Erik ten Hag for his actions in effectively calling his manager a liar on social media.
By now Sancho should really have swallowed his pride, apologised and been allowed to get on with his career, but his failure to do so has seen him having to train in a totally separate part of Carrington from his first-team colleagues.
It’s long been thought that had the status quo remained the same by the time the January transfer window came around, Sancho would be sent packing as early as possible in the new year.
Given his potential fee and the fact that he could be seen as a disruptive influence, any notion of moving him on quickly may not be as easy as first thought.
However, help may be at hand in the form of Borussia Dortmund’s Donyell Malen.
Like Sancho, Malen is unhappy with his current lot, and there has been talk of a potential swap deal between the pair, thus allowing Sancho to return to a club where he did some of his best work.
‘A couple of days ago Donyell Malen changed agents. He’s now with the SEC group, a really strong Dutch group on the transfer market, and we’ve already started to hear rumours about the player and Manchester United,’ Fabrizio Romano wrote in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.
‘[…] Malen is not happy with Dortmund and he’s not happy to play on the wing because he wants to play as a central striker. United know this but there’s also Timo Werner at Leipzig, Serhou Guirassy with a €17.5m release clause in his contract with Stuttgart – so there are multiple possibilities.
‘There have been many questions on a swap deal with Jadon Sancho but at the moment guys, I’m told that there is no contact between Dortmund and United so it’s very quiet.
‘The Sancho situation is still not resolved and so we need to wait. Let’s see if something is going to happen in January, but as of now; Malen discussed internally – yes, swap deal – still not something concrete at the moment.’
Though any swap would therefore seem to be some way off at present, if the various representatives can get around the negotiating table, there’s no reason why a deal can’t be constructed to the satisfaction of all parties.
One thing is almost certain. Man United won’t want the current situation to remain on February 1.