Manchester United star Jadon Sancho reportedly was an admired target at Anfield prior to his switch away from Borussia Dortmund with Liverpool’s owners, FSG, prepared to fork out the £73m necessary to sign the wide man.
This update comes courtesy of David Lynch who notes that the player’s wage demands came in the way of a deal being finalised between the two outfits.
“Jadon Sancho had two major admirers at Anfield in manager Jurgen Klopp and his assistant Pep Lijnders, while owners Fenway Sports Group were more than happy to meet Borussia Dortmund’s £73m price tag to secure his signature,” the reporter wrote for The National News.
“Unfortunately, any potential move was scuppered when the Englishman’s wage expectations became clear, paving the way for him to sign a £270,000-per-week deal at Old Trafford.
“Had the 22-year-old been willing to accept half that, then he would have become a Liverpool player; instead the Reds went on to land Diaz and then Nunez, the latter having turned down improved terms at United in order to play Champions League football.”
The England international went on to join then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford, registering eight goal contributions across 38 games (in all competitions).
At 21 years of age, at the time, the former Bundesliga talent would have represented a potentially stellar addition to the side, particularly under the guidance of our German tactician.
That being said, given how well Luis Diaz has embraced life in Merseyside, it’s hard to be too disappointed about losing out on Sancho last summer.
Ultimately, the recruitment team has proven that it’s more than capable of finding sound additions to the squad, even if our first-choice options don’t pan out as we might have hoped.
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Time and again it has proved to be the perfect approach. What a more modest salary gives the player is room to grow and flourish without pressure. If they go for the maximum they can get you basically put yourself in a cage where you absolutely 100% have to succeed, look at Jadon Sancho. The thing is, even if it doesn’t quite work out or if you want to move on for whatever reason, you have freedom to do that and make your killing then. Look at Coutinho, Wijnaldum, Lallana and now Sadio, all left for the big payday. If Sancho flops, what can he do, no one is going to even match what Utd are paying, so he sits and waits out his contract, all while his on field development goes down the pan.
Same with Haaland, he absolutely 100% has to succeed, if he doesn’t City have a £400k a week headache and the players career is stunted.