As Manchester United get set to take on Chelsea in the penultimate game of their miserable Premier League season on Friday night, one man who won’t be involved in proceedings is Old Trafford exile, Jadon Sancho.
The 25-year-old loanee – who is ineligible to feature for the Blues against his parent club – is set to head into a summer of uncertainty at Stamford Bridge, with it yet to be seen whether the west London side will secure his services on a permanent basis.
With talk in recent months indicating that Enzo Maresca’s side could actually pay a £5m fee in order to send him back to Manchester, despite agreeing to a £20m-£25m obligation to buy last summer, the Red Devils face the very real prospect of being lumped with the £195k-per-week winger once again.
In truth, even with a change in the dugout following Ruben Amorim’s arrival, the England international should have no future back at the Theatre of Dreams, having proven a simply wasted venture following his £73m arrival in 2021.
Perhaps hampered by a long, drawn-out saga that began in 2020, the former Borussia Dortmund man has been unable to replicate his Bundesliga heroics, having chalked up just 18 goals and assists in 83 games for United to date.
Antony
96
12
5
17
Anthony Elanga
55
4
4
8
Amad
61
13
11
24
Jadon Sancho
83
12
6
18
Alejandro Garnacho
146
26
22
48
Dan James
74
9
9
18
Angel Di Maria
34
4
12
16
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
63
13
11
24
Memphis Depay
53
7
6
13
Alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford and Antony, Sancho is a player who INEOS need to cash in on this summer. What they must not do, however, is sign a talent of a similar ilk…
Man Utd's search for a forward
Whether it pays off or not remains to be seen, although it is encouraging to see that United are looking to target current Premier League stars this summer, ensuring there should be less of a need for adaptation next season.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Indeed, both Matheus Cunha and Liam Delap appear to be at the top of the shopping list, while recent reports have also indicated that Amorim and co are interested in Bournemouth’s £60m-rated sensation, Antoine Semenyo.
With the Red Devils intent on strengthening the 40-year-old’s attacking options, Sky Sports have since revealed that United are also keeping tabs on Nottingham Forest’s Callum Hudson-Odoi.
As per reporter Dharmesh Sheth, the Englishman currently has just a year left on his contract at the City Ground, with talks currently “ongoing” with the Champions League hopefuls regarding an extension.
Reading between the lines, INEOS appear ready to pounce should those negotiations hit a stumbling block, with Forest perhaps willing to cash in, considering that they signed the ex-Chelsea man for a fee of just £3m back in 2023.
Alongside former United academy graduate, Anthony Elanga, Hudson-Odoi has no doubt flourished for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side – but is he what Amorim really needs?
Why Man Utd could be targeting another Sancho
The journey of a young footballer is rarely a smooth one, as Sancho, in particular, has come to learn.
Plucked from Manchester City by Dortmund on a £10m deal in 2017, the wing wizard went on to sparkle in German football over the next four years, with his total record for the Bundesliga side – when factoring last season’s loan spell back at the club – standing at 120 goals and assists in 158 games.
For all that talent and potential, it just hasn’t worked out since then, with Sancho now a forgotten man in Manchester, having also provided only eight goal involvements in the league this season for the Blues. His last Three Lions outing came as far back as October 2021.
It has been a similar story for Hudson-Odoi too, with the one-time wonderkid touted for big things after making his senior international debut at the age of just 18, having also been the subject of a £70m offer from Bayern Munich in 2020.
Injuries and limited game followed back at Chelsea, however, while he was also shipped off to Bayer Leverkusen for an unsuccessful loan in 2022/23, which yielded just one goal and one assist.
After recording 16 goals and 22 assists in 126 games for the west Londoners, the decision was made to cash in on the fleet-footed winger two years ago, while on the international scene, he has been unable to build on his three caps – all of which came in 2019.
To his credit, the man once described as a “monster of a talent” by journalist Nizaar Kinsella has found his feet at Forest, with 13 goals and six assists in 68 games in all competitions, including the winner against Manchester City earlier this year.
Non-penalty goals
0.21
0.16
Assists
0.08
0.21
Shot-creating actions
3.93
3.59
Pass completion
82.2%
82.5%
Progressive passes
2.76
4.65
Progressive carries
5.31
5.28
Successful take-ons
1.51
2.38
Touches in penalty box
3.01
6.39
Progressive passes received
7.78
11.68
That said, like Sancho, he hasn’t exactly pulled up any trees – if you’ll pardon the pun – in Nottingham, having matched his compatriot’s record of only eight goal contributions in the top-flight this term.
Interestingly too, the two widemen – both of whom can play on either flank – are noted as statistically similar players among those in their position in the division, as per FBref, with United at risk of landing another mercurial and inconsistent talent.
Perhaps, for a bargain fee, Hudson-Odoi could prove worth the gamble, although having witnessed Sancho struggle so greatly in recent years, targeting a player of similar quality and ability may well need to be avoided.
Forget Obi: Amorim can finally axe Hojlund for Man Utd's homegrown Gyokeres
Man Utd could have another academy sensation up their sleeve…
1 ByRobbie WallsMay 14, 2025