- Chelsea have completed the signing of Jadon Sancho on a season-long loan
- The deal includes a £23m obligation for the Blues to sign him next summer.
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Jadon Sancho’s nightmare at Manchester United is over after joining Chelsea on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.
The deal will see Sancho move to Stamford Bridge initially on loan before the 24-year-old joins permanently for £23m, dependent on performance-related add-ons, next year.
Sancho will replace Raheem Sterling, who joined Arsenal, after the former Borussia Dortmund star lost the confidence of head coach Erik ten Hag following a well-documented fallout last season.
Mail Sport previously reported that both clubs were discussing a surprise swap deal involving Sancho and his former England teammate Sterling, who was unexpectedly dropped from Chelsea’s squad and banished to the “bomb squad” by Blues boss Enzo Maresca.
Sterling eventually managed to escape and signed for Arsenal on loan with no obligation to buy.
Jadon Sancho has joined Chelsea on loan in a deal that includes a £23m obligation to buy.
The shock decision comes despite United manager Ten Hag insisting Sancho would stay, hours before the player left for west London.
Asked if he expected Sancho to remain at the club, Ten Hag said: “As far as I know, yes.
“He’s in our squad and we’re happy with him. We need a good squad, we need depth. We have to play a lot of games until January. After the break we play every three days, so we need options.”
Following impressive performances during his first spell at Borussia Dortmund that earned him a spot in the England squad, United paid £73m to bring Sancho to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021.
However, under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag, the winger has failed to consistently repeat the performances that made him so acclaimed before his move to the Premier League.
Following a public falling out with the Dutchman that saw him sidelined by United last season, Sancho has returned to Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign.
Back in the Bundesliga, the winger once again showed his potential, making 21 appearances in all competitions and helping Edin Terzic’s side reach the Champions League final.
