Man Utd relent over Jadon Sancho’s Dortmund loan and agree to pay portion of salary

The winger, who cost £73million when he swapped BVB for Old Trafford in the summer of 2021, has not played for the Red Devils since August after falling out with manager Erik ten Hag.

Sancho objected to suggestions a lack of effort in training had resulted in his non-selection against Arsenal at the start of September, taking to social media platform X to claim he was being made a ‘scapegoat’ by his manager.

Ten Hag was furious with the public outburst and demanded an apology, which Sancho has refused to give, and he has been training at the club’s academy facilities ever since.

United had hoped to secure a permanent deal for Sancho this month, but concrete offers have been few and far between despite some interest from Saudi Arabia.

He now looks set to move back to Dortmund, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reporting that talks have now advanced to the final stages with BVB keen for the deal to be concluded swiftly.

United have relented on their initial stance of wanting a full sale and will accept a loan and they are even begrudgingly prepared to pay a significant portion of his salary.

According to The Times, Dortmund are only willing to pay one-third of Sancho’s £300,000-a-week wages during the loan, which works out at around £2.6m for the duration of his stay.

United will pay the rest of his salary, which comes to around £5.2m, while they will receive a relatively modest loan fee that takes Dortmund’s total outlay to £3m.

The German side are keen to bring Sancho back to bolster their attacking options but are wary of upsetting the balance in the dressing room by paying his salary in full, with their current highest earner – defender Niklas Sule – only on about £166,000-a-week.

United have subsidised deals for high earners in the past, such as Romelu Lukaku, and are hoping that an eye-catching loan for Sancho could prompt concrete bids in the summer.

Sancho is keen to return to Dortmund and has a good relationship with head coach Edin Terzic, who is also excited to be reunited with the winger.

BVB are also in talks with Chelsea to try and sign Ian Maatsen, though again the Bundesliga side are not able to stump up a fee this month and are hoping to secure a loan with an option to buy the youngster for around £25m in the summer.