Jadon Sancho was linked with a move away from Manchester United for much of the summer transfer window and the England international eventually opted to join Aston Villa on loan
Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is on loan at Aston Villa
Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is on loan at Aston Villa(Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)
AS Roma advisor Claudio Ranieri has revealed why Jadon Sancho's potential switch to the Serie A club fell apart, allowing Aston Villa to secure a late deal for the Manchester United winger.
At the start of the summer transfer window, Sancho's prospects appeared increasingly uncertain. Despite Chelsea agreeing an obligation to purchase deal, the Blues ultimately paid a £5m penalty after opting not to complete the deal.
Whilst this generated some revenue for United, challenges persisted regarding how they would handle the Sancho matter this year. Prior to returning for pre-season training, the 25 year old informed the Red Devils that he wanted to leave the club before the window shut.
Fortunately, Roma developed serious interest in the England international, and it appeared only a matter of time before he relocated to Italy.
However, that proved not to be the case and ultimately United managed to secure a loan arrangement with Aston Villa for the winger on deadline day. Until now, it remained unclear why Sancho's transfer to Roma collapsed, but Ranieri has finally provided insight into the circumstances, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, the former Chelsea and Leicester City manager revealed: "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 challenges of FFP which is precisely why it proved so crucial for them to secure Sancho a fresh destination.
The Red Devils did manage to finalise additional departures to balance their wage structure appropriately. Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were amongst the significant exits completed ahead of deadline day.
Keeper Andre Onana is also anticipated to depart before Turkey's transfer window shuts at the conclusion of this week. The Cameroonian is set to join Trabzonspor on a temporary deal.
Villa have had to part ways with the likes of Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey to make sure they can comply with the FA and Uefa financial regulations.