Borussia Dortmund still expect Jadon Sancho to stay at the club next season despite his contract situation and intense interest from Manchester United.
Sancho, 20, is about to enter the last two years of his deal and is believed to be intent on leaving the Bundesliga side rather than signing a renewal.
United are long-time admirers of Sancho, having tried to sign him from Manchester City in 2017, and were unsuccessful in a move to buy the England international last year due to their failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Dortmund want a nine-figure fee for Sancho, which could lead to protracted negotiations with potential buyers in a post-COVID climate, and a United move for Sancho also heavily depends on whether they return to the Champions League.
"We expect Jadon to play with BVB next season and we’re all very happy with the quality that he brings to our side and the difference that he can make," Dortmund's former midfielder and current head of the licensed player division Sebastian Kehl told Sport Buzzer.
United sources have dismissed Dortmund's confidence of retaining Sancho as brinkmanship since the club's chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted in March it was probable Sancho would be sold this summer.
The likelihood is Dortmund would look to fetch over £100million for Sancho, having sold Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona in 2017 for a staggering £135.5m. Dortmund negotiated an overall fee of £135.5m for Dembele from Barca and received £96.8m up front.
Sancho has scored 20 goals in 43 games for Dortmund this term and would slot in on the right-hand side of a potential United front three with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
United could yet enjoy their most successful season since Sir Alex Ferguson retired or miss out on European Cup football for successive years for the first time since the early 90s. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted their summer budget is still uncertain amid the variables of their run-in.
"I think the pandemic has hit everyone really hard," Solskjaer said on Friday. "I still think we need to wait and see how things are panning out to know the real effects of the pandemic, to know what kind of financial state we are in.
"You see some teams invest, some teams don’t. We’ll have to take a big look at things ourselves to see how hard we’ve been hit. I know the club has announced a few numbers before.
"It’s not for me to say we are going to have X amount because I don’t really know. I don’t really know how hard we have been hit. We are a financially strong club, but we are also probably being hit more than anybody else. Let’s see how quickly we can get our fans back into the stadium and of course the league position is going to be important for us this season."
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