Chelsea are ready to break their transfer record in the pursuit of Dortmund’s wantaway star Jadon Sancho and are confident about their chances of landing him ahead of Manchester United either in the January window or next summer.
The Blues are pressing ahead with transfer plans, despite their current ban, with a Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] appeal verdict due any day, and are willing to pay more than the £72m they stumped up to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Club last year.
Sancho enjoys a very close relationship with a number of Chelsea players, including England team-mates Tammy Abraham and Hudson-Odoi, and hails from London.
He is understood to be ready to leave Dortmund after enduring a turbulent start to the season as, although Sancho’s output has remained high, he has been hit with disciplinary sanctions this campaign.
The 19-year-old was pulled from a league game against Bayern Munich after only 36 minutes, with coach Lucien Favre blasting the player as “not good enough”.
And just last week Sancho was dropped from the starting line-up to face Barca in the Champions League after reporting late for a pre-game team meeting. Favre said after the match that he needed “focused players” for the game, which Dortmund lost 3-1.
Those issues have helped to signal hope that Dortmund may consider selling their most prized asset sooner rather than later, with moves for Antony of Sao Paulo or Everton of Gremio in the works and to be funded by using the proceeds gotten from Sancho exit.
Dortmund sold Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona for an initial €105 million in 2017 and Jadon Sancho would likely command a fee above that figure given his current deal runs until 2022.
Liverpool are also known to be admirers of the England forward but Jurgen Klopp has conceded that the price is too high. The European champions would also have no space for Sancho in their starting XI so long as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah remain at Anfield.
For their part, the Red devils are prepared to pay up to €140m to land Sancho in January but are hampered by the fact that they are 10th in the League, ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with Tottenham, and a long way from the Champions League places Chelsea currently occupy.
Moreover, Chelsea’s wide forwards Willian and Pedro are out of contract at the club next summer with space opening up for a new player in that position.
