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The deadline day was meant to be one of two paths for Manchester United when it came to going after Jadon Sancho.
Had Sancho completed a long-awaited move to Old Trafford, United would have added a world-class attacker to his front line and provided Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with his number one transfer goal. His decision to wait until the end of the window in the hope that Borussia Dortmund would lower the sale price would be justified.
Unsurprisingly, it was the other way around, with Sancho staying in Dortmund. The Bundesliga team told United how much it would cost to sign the English international and by what date the deal should be completed, but no deal was reached. As a result, United may have missed their best and only chance to sign the 20-year-old.
If United return for Sancho next summer, they may face a real challenge to secure his signature. If the financial climate has improved, many more clubs are likely to be interested.
The Liverpool forward is aging and Jurgen Klopp is known to be a huge fan of Sancho. Despite the lack of significant spending in recent windows, Klopp has always reiterated that the club is ready to act if the right player is available. Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are likely to be in the conversation as well.
If United wants to achieve their number one goal the third time they ask for it, they must prove three things to the youngster.
First, they must be willing to close the deal as quickly as possible.
The constant speculation in the press and rumors about his future would have undoubtedly affected Sancho and seeing United not putting their money in their mouths would have been difficult to digest. It remains to be seen if United have ruined their chances of signing him. However, if he still wants to move to Old Trafford, United cannot take the same transfer approach next summer.
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Dortmund made their demands and United did not comply. If the signing of Sancho is taken seriously, that cannot happen again. It is widely established that it could require a record British fee to sign the winger and United must be prepared to pay that or pursue alternative targets.
Second, United need to get their season back on track immediately and show Sancho that they can challenge players like Liverpool and Manchester City to the top of the Premier League table. United have not won a trophy since José Mourinho guided the Reds to the Europa League and the League Cup in 2017, last winning the league title in 2013 with Sir Alex Ferguson.
United’s qualification for the Champions League should be seen as a minimum rather than a defining achievement of their season. Sancho must be convinced that he can compete for great honors at his next club. Even without winning a trophy, Liverpool were able to convince the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker to join the Klopp project. A Premier League and a Champions League soon followed.
Finally, the board should also endorse your current manager, be it Solskjaer or someone else. The current United manager was desperate to sign Sancho, but was left empty-handed. Instead, he received a 33-year-old Edinson Cavani after his departure from Paris Saint-Germain.
Everton is the perfect example of an owner backing up the current boss. Carlo Ancelotti was a great blow to the Toffees, but the Everton leadership has provided him with the tools to succeed. Ancelotti’s arrival brought with it a focused transfer strategy that led James Rodríguez, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure to transform their team. Four wins in four Premier League games say it all.
Like this summer, United will have the opportunity to sign Sancho next year. Whether they can do it is up to them.
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