Chelsea's hopes of signing Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho this summer have been handed an encouraging boost with the news that Manchester City will not be in the running for the 20-year-old, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
The England international, who left the Etihad Stadium to seal a move to Dortmund back in 2017, has been a stand-out figure in the Bundesliga this season, scoring 17 goals and registering 17 assists in 32 league appearances.
His form throughout the campaign has put a plethora of big-name European clubs on red alert, none more so than Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Blues, who suffered a first post-lockdown defeat on Wednesday evening, being beaten 3-2 by West Ham United at the London Stadium, have been monitoring Sancho's developments for several months, as have United, who have identified the winger as their number one target ahead of the summer transfer window opening for business.
However, according to a new report that emerged earlier this week, United are not willing to pay Dortmund more than £50million to land Sancho's signature, as United bosses believe that anything north of a £50million fee would not be a fair reflection of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the world of football finances.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are showing no signs of slowing down in their recruitment drive ahead of next season getting underway, with the Blues having already splashed out more than £80million on sealing the signings of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, as well as continuing to eye up moves for Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen.
Now, it appears that the Blues' chances of landing Sancho this summer have been boosted further, with Guardiola confirming that City will not be putting any plans in place to try and take the exciting youngster back to the Etihad Stadium.
"No, no. No, he decided to leave, why should he decide to come back?" Guardiola, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News, told the media on Wednesday ahead of City's mouth-watering tie with Liverpool this evening.
"We wanted him to stay like Eric Garcia and Phil now. He decided like Leroy now, so when he decided to move to Dortmund it’s not because he is going to decide to come back one year later. It would make no sense.
"He didn’t want to be here, so that is why I think he doesn’t want to come back here."
In total this season, Sancho, who would have held ambitions to be part of Gareth Southgate's England squad for this summer's European Championships had they not been suspended because of the coronavirus crisis, has scored 20 times and racked up 20 assists in all competitions for Dortmund.
