Al-Ettifaq’s attempt to secure Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho on a loan deal has fallen through, according to Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail.
The club, under the management of Steven Gerrard, aimed to seize the opportunity after Sancho’s recent public disagreement with United’s manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag explained Sancho’s absence from the squad for the game against Arsenal by saying he hadn’t trained well that week. Sancho retorted on social media, stating that he felt like ‘a scapegoat’.
The Saudi Pro League club, which had earlier welcomed Jordan Henderson from Liverpool and Demarai Gray from Everton, was in talks with United through intermediaries.
Sancho himself had shown interest in a move to the Middle East, as per Daily Mail.
However, the deal hit a snag. According to Chris Wheeler, United were willing to loan Sancho to Al-Ettifaq for the rest of the season without a loan fee, but the agreement would have forced Al-Ettifaq to purchase him for £50million—a sum they couldn’t manage. Mail Sport now report that the deal is now ‘dead’.
Earlier this summer, multiple reports had stated that United would entertain offers around £45m for Sancho, although they weren’t proactively trying to offload him.
Sancho joined United for £73m from Borussia Dortmund two years ago after lengthy negotiations, but he has yet to make a significant impact at Old Trafford, accumulating only 12 goals and six assists in 82 appearances.
