The transfer window is generally full of twists even on the dullest of days, but the latest one in Jadon Sancho’s saga is not one many saw coming.
After returning from Chelsea, and the club paying £5m to do so, Jadon Sancho is unlikely to return to playing for Man Utd.
Suggestions of a move to Napoli and Juventus have been mooted, while links to Fenerbahce have also been floated about.
The Italian links recently gained substance, especially as Napoli’s sporting director, Giovanni Manna, spoke about Sancho’s wage demands.
Or did he?
Giovanni Manna, sporting director of SSC Napoli, looks on
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
When it was reported that Manna said Napoli won’t pay Sancho’s salary, it was something that was extremely easy to believe.
That’s the reason why Sancho’s move to Chelsea broke down, so there was no world where Napoli could afford to pay what Chelsea couldn’t.
Still, the move hadn’t progressed that far where the club’s sporting director would publicly call out the player’s wage demands like that.
As it happens, if a quote is too sensational to be believed, it probably is, because as per Tutto Napoli, the club have ‘categorically denied’ Manna ever speaking about Sancho.
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The original quote came from a Turkish account belonging to Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, and it’s easy to believe why an Italian club’s sporting director wouldn’t have spoken to a Turkish account about an English player in the Premier League.
Just because the substance of the quote is so believable, it caught fire and spread throughout, but as it stands, Manna and Napoli have not revealed their cards in Sancho’s case.
Napoli denial but the gist of Sancho’s issue is true
Even though Manna’s supposed ‘quotes’ about Sancho’s wages were not true, what is true is that his wages are United’s biggest stumbling block this transfer window.
For a player content to sit idle and cash in hefty wages, it’s no surprise that no other club is agreeing to take on that salary.
Sancho knows he holds the cards, and he’s clearly not ambitious enough to earn regular playing time or a settled environment, even if it means taking a pay cut.
He is banking on getting his full salary this year, before leaving on a free transfer and hopefully a big signing fee from whichever club he signs for.
As for United, they might just have to bite the bullet and get him out for whatever money they get because it would still be better than paying him his big wages to sit on the bench and affect the dressing room atmosphere.