Chelsea have joined Juventus in the race to sign Manchester United star winger Jadon Sancho, who will almost certainly leave the club this summer after a public falling out with manager Erik ten Hag.
Although Man United considered firing ten Hag after an eighth-placed finish in the 2023/24 season, new ownership group INEOS decided to give him a second chance after he qualified for European football by virtue of winning the FA Cup.
That has left Sancho outside the door of Old Trafford, and while Juve have been the only side pushing for a permanent solution, the Bianconeri have been unable to secure a deal for the English winger because of financial juggling.
Chelsea have already spent over 150 million euros on attacking players this summer, reuniting with Joao Felix on a permanent basis while also signing Wolves winger Pedro Neto. Estevao Willian will be joining the Blues in 2025.
Yet Chelsea, even after putting up six on Wolves this weekend with a hat trick from Noni Madueke, are still interested in adding to their star-studded attack. Sancho would be an upgrade on two players who could leave this summer, veteran winger Raheem Sterling and transfer flop Mykhaylo Mudryk.
According to a report from the Telegraph’s Jason Burt, Chelsea are hopeful that Manchester United will want to take Sterling as part of a swap deal for Jadon Sancho.
Sterling is being aggressively shopped by Chelsea this summer, as the 29-year-old no longer has a place in the club’s plans, constantly eschewed on the matchday squad list by new manager Enzo Maresca.
If Chelsea can somehow get Manchester United to accept Sterling as part of a swap deal for Sancho, then that could severely reduce the financial cost of inking the former Dortmund man.
In fact, that would be an ideal transfer for Chelsea and quite a cunning move to send away a declining forward for a dynamic, game-changing winger who can score or create, as evidenced by his heroics in leading Dortmund to the Champions League Final.
Manchester United might actually go for it, since with Sterling, Chelsea can offer a better total package than Juventus. And at least Sterling had more than 10 goal contributions last season, offering Man United a veteran goal-scorer to go with Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee, and Alejandro Garnacho if Marcus Rashford continues to struggle on the left wing.
