Borussia Dortmund are hopeful that the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the financial side of football will boost the club's chances of retaining winger Jadon Sancho ahead of the next transfer window.
The England international, who is poised to resume his campaign when Dortmund face Schalke in the Bundesliga on Saturday, which will mark the return of German football following the pandemic, has been in fine form for the German giants this season and has attracted strong levels of interest from Chelsea and Manchester United.
But any move that Sancho could be primed for ahead of the next transfer window - though it remains unknown when it could open because of the crisis - could be thrown into doubt because of the financial troubles the COVID-19 crisis has caused.
Clubs are not expected to be able to shell out such hefty transfer fees on players, meaning both Chelsea and United's plans to enter a bidding war for the 19-year-old could be heavily impacted.
And that could be a huge boost to Dortmund's hopes of retaining the skilful winger, who has scored 14 league goals this season, according to the club's chief operating officer, Carsten Cramer.
"We want to keep our players at for as long as possible. The less clubs interested in Jadon, the less we would complain," he told BBC Sport.
It is no secret that the Blues are interested in landing the England star, especially as they are poised to lose two right-wingers in the coming weeks and months in the form of Pedro and Willian, both of whom are not planning on putting pen to paper on new deals at Stamford Bridge this summer.
Dortmund have previously stated that they would not be willing to sell Sancho for anything less than around the £100million mark.
