There was a time when it looked as though Jadon Sancho had the world at his feet.
Born in Greater London in the March of 2000, the winger joined the youth system of Watford before being snapped up by Manchester City, still in the throes of the takeover by Sheikh Mansour and representatives of the United Arab Emirates.
He left England to join the Borussia Dortmund academy, eventually breaking into the first team and impressing. Then, for reasons known only to himself, he left for Manchester United and has struggled to get his career back on track since.
Life Post-Dortmund
Manchester United remains a club with a sterling reputation. In spite of the fact that the Red Devils haven’t won the Premier League for more than a decade, going through a string of different managers to try to find Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement, the club’s reputation is still that of a powerhouse of English football. That is maybe the reasoning behind Jadon Sancho’s decision to join the club in 2021, with Der BVB happy to take the €85 million they were paid for him. Although he did well enough during his initial stages at the club, it didn’t take long for things to sour.
When Manchester United played Arsenal on the third of September 2023, Erik Ten Hag decided to drop him from the squad, citing poor performances in training for the decision. Sancho lashed out, posting on social media that he had been training well and had been made ‘a scapegoat’. Soon, he was sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund, briefly returning to Old Trafford before being loaned out once again, this time to Chelsea. The London club had an option to buy the forward, but instead chose to pay a penalty of £5 million to send him back to Manchester United rather than sign him permanently.
Where Things Stand Now
Sancho Not Needed
Sancho remains person non grata at Manchester United, in spite of the fact that Ten Hag is no longer the manager there. The arrival of Ruben Amorim might have been seen as a chance for the winger to get back in the good books, but the overall feeling from both the player and the powers that be at Old Trafford is that his future there is no longer tenable. As a result, he is looking for a new club that is willing to take a chance on him, feeling that his future might well lie away from England. One of the biggest problems to any potential move, however, is the high wage that he’s on.
It is reported that Sancho earns in the region of £300,000 per week, which is far too rich for many of the clubs that might be happy to have him on their books. He has been linked with possible moves to clubs like Juventus and Fenerbahçe, but nothing has materialised and he is still looking for a club to play at in the 2025-2026 campaign. Manchester United, meanwhile, were apparently looking for a fee in the region of £25 million for him, but have lowered that to as little as £17 million as they are keen to simply draw a close to the entire chapter of Sancho’s time as a Red Devil.
Taking a Wage Cut
Sancho is aware that he will need to take a substantial cut in his wages if he is to be able to make it back to the Westfalenstadion any time soon. It is for that reason that, according to Sport Bild, the player has signalled to the powers that be in Dortmund that he would be willing to take a weekly wage that is about 50% less than he is currently on.
Even that could be too rich for Dortmund’s blood, however. It would mean him earning in the region of £150,000 per week, which would make him one of the club’s best-paid players. Whether Niko Kovač would be happy with that is unclear.
Jadon Sancho is said to have signalled to Lars Ricken and Sebastian Kehl that he would be willing to forgo a lot of salary for Borussia Dortmund. Apparently he would be fine with earning half of his €16m per year salary that he has at Manchester United.
🗞 @BILD
#BVB
— BVB Newsblog (@bvb-newsblog.bsky.social) Jul 31, 2025 at 10:34
There is a strong argument that part of the reason why Sancho would be willing to be paid so much less is that he has played his best football whilst signed to the German club. His frustrating time at Old Trafford was only really alleviated when he returned to the Westfalenstadion for a period during the 2023-2024 season, helping the club to reach the final of the Champions League, starting in the 2-0 loss to Real Madrid.
Juventus continue to monitor the situation, but Sancho would almost certainly be happier heading back to the Bundesliga than looking to start again in an entirely new league that he’s unfamiliar with.