Manchester United's failure to sign Jadon Sancho this summer may hang over their entire season and there's a very good chance they won't be able to sign him in the future either.
Now that the transfer window is over it's almost time to never speak of the longest running saga of any summer window, almost but not quite.
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United's awful attempts at trying to sign Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's number one target have been described as 'embarrassing' on more than one occasion and the Athletic's deep dive into how the deal didn't go down only serves to enhance that feeling.
As well as proving how poor United handled business in the extended window, the article also suggests that the failure to sign the 20-year-old could also end their chances of signing him next summer.
Talking about the low price United offered, the report explains, "Sancho himself is believed to have felt undervalued by the offers and even if United had placed the right bid late on, it is understood he would have questioned why it did not come earlier."
According to the Athletic, United didn't get close to the €120 million that Dortmund wanted and believed the Germans would eventually come down in asking price.
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However it was never the Bundesliga teams way of thinking and they'd actually initially wanted closer to the €147 million that Barcelona paid for Ousmane Dembele in 2017, before coming down to their minimum asking price of €120 million.
United's bid at the end of September, made through intermediaries was of £80 million, plus add-ons, leaving them well short of the target.
The club had free run at Sancho this summer but it's believed that Jurgen Klopp was keeping an eye on the deal and that could mean Liverpool making a move in the future.
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Whilst Solskjaer is believed to have sounded the player out about a move in January, and the former Manchester City player also spoke to Marcus Rashford about joining him at Old Trafford, the forward was never 'desperate' to join United this summer.
The weakening of the relationship through this summer's failed deals, and United reportedly offering less wages than he's currently on in the first negotiation, could lead to problems down the road.
This summer may well have been now or never when it comes to Jadon Sancho and Manchester United, if that is the case it could be the club's biggest transfer failing to date.
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