Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho looked set to be leaving the club during the summer transfer window only for plans to shift on deadline day
Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is on loan at Aston Villa(Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)
AS Roma director Claudio Ranieri has explained why Jadon Sancho’s proposed transfer to the Serie A giants collapsed, with Manchester United eventually having to move on.
At the beginning of the summer window, Sancho’s future looked to be in serious jeopardy. Despite agreeing an obligation to buy deal with Chelsea in 2024, the Blues ended up paying a £5m penalty after failing to reach personal terms with the winger.
While this provided United with some income, difficulties remained as to how they would approach the Sancho situation this year. Ahead of his return to pre-season training, the 25-year-old informed the Reds that he wished to depart the club before the window closed.
Sancho was one of five players that featured in the so-called ‘bomb squad’ and were distanced from the remainder of the first-team. Fortunately, Roma became seriously interested in the Englishman, and it seemed to be just a matter of time before he moved to Italy.
Alas, that was not to be the case, and eventually United managed to agree a loan move to Aston Villa for the winger on deadline day. Up until this point, it was unclear as to why Sancho’s move to Roma fell through, but Ranieri has now shed some light on the situation.
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
£49
£35
Sky
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, the former Chelsea and Leicester City head coach explained: “It was a very expensive operation economically, but the Friedkins would have done it to please the coach. Of course, someone needed to be sold.
“Until a valuable player was sold, it couldn’t be done. I don’t think that a valuable player would have ever been sold, because we want to keep them at the moment.
“We had to bring in young players with the hope that the coach makes the most out of them so that we can resell them to fall within the parameters of Financial Fair Play (FFP).” United are no strangers themselves to the perils of FFP which is why it was so important for them to find Sancho a new home.
AS Roma director Claudio Ranieri
The Reds did manage to seal other exits to balance out their wage bill accordingly. Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were among the notable departures before deadline day.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana is also expected to leave before Turkey’s window closes at the end of this week. The Cameroonian is expected to join Trabzonspor on loan.
…..
Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.