Some might view Jadon Sancho’s England call-up as justification for his decision to leave Manchester City
City had been desperate to keep hold of Sancho, even reportedly offering him around £30,000 a week – a deal which would’ve been the biggest in the history of the club’s academy – in order to try and tie him down. Despite this, the 18-year-old felt he had more chance of playing first team football elsewhere. He opted to join Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, the German club paying out £8m for him.
His bright start to the season for Dortmund has not only earned him a call-up from Gareth Southgate, but has also seen his name linked with a possible move back to England.
Manchester United (of course) are one of those reportedly keeping tabs on Sancho’s progress, as are the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea. However, as pointed out by a report in the Manchester Evening News, it’s City that are his most likely destination should he return to the Premier League any time soon.
Stuart Brennan writes that City inserted a buyback clause in his Dortmund contract when he departed for Germany, meaning they are likely to get first refusal should another club decide to make an offer for him.
The report also points out that Sancho holds no hard feelings towards his former club, despite their decision to leave him out of their summer 2017 tour of the United States as contract discussions stalled. In response, Sancho failed to turn up for training, eventually sealing his move to the Bundesliga weeks later.
Sancho joined City from Watford’s academy in 2014 for a fee of around £66,000. Because he had been part of their academy, The Hornets received 10% of the fee Dortmund paid to sign him from City last summer.
England face Croatia in Rijeka on Friday night, where Sancho is expected to earn his first senior cap for the Three Lions.
