LONDON, United Kingdom, Jun 30 – Manchester United have agreed to sign England forward Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth Sh10.8bn ($100 million), according to reports on Wednesday.
United have been keen to bring Sancho to Old Trafford since last year and they are finally set to get their man.
After failing to meet Dortmund’s £100 million asking price last year, the Premier League club have been in protracted negotiations since the end of the season in a bid to tie up the transfer.
United’s initial £67 million offer was rejected but they improved the bid sufficiently to convince Dortmund to sell, albeit at a much lower price than they wanted 12 months ago due to the financial fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic.
Sancho is believed to have been given the green light to discuss personal terms with United.
He is set to sign a reported five-year contract once he completes a medical.
Sancho will become the second most expensive English footballer when he joins United, who signed Harry Maguire two years ago from Leicester for £80 million.
It will be a return to Manchester for the 21-year-old, who was a graduate of Manchester City’s academy before joining Dortmund in search of regular first-team action in 2017.
City will be due around £10 million of the fee as a result of a 15 percent sell-on clause they had inserted in the deal when Sancho left the Etihad Stadium.
Sancho made 137 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund, scoring 50 goals as he established himself as one of Europe’s brightest young stars.
He scored twice in the German Cup final to inspire Dortmund to a 4-1 victory over RB Leipzig in May.
Sancho, who has won 20 caps for England since his debut in 2018, was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
He first came to prominence as part of England’s Under-17s World Cup-winning squad in 2017.
Sancho is currently on Euro 2020 duty with England, where he has made just one substitute appearance so far during his country’s run to the quarter-finals.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is expected to use Sancho on the right flank as he looks to add a creativity to an attack that has spluttered at times during his reign.
Solskjaer’s side were unable to kill off Villarreal as they lost the Europa League final on penalties after a 1-1 draw in May.
Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood were United’s wide players in the final in Gdansk.
United finished second in the Premier League last season, but trailed 12 points behind champions Manchester City.
