Sancho and Pogba are in an identical situation. They have 2 years left in their contract and they probably don't want to renew. That means its a buyer's market for both. What may distinguish them is if Sancho is wanted by clubs willing to go into a bidding war for him. Unfortunately I can't see that happening with Pogba.
If Pogba doesn't commit himself in signing a new contract then we should cut the losses. Else we risk keeping an unhappy player who would end up ruining the dressing room's atmosphere in the process only for us to still sell him on cheap at a latter date. Swap deals might end becoming a necessary evil. Unfortunately we will be forced to go on realistic options here as top clubs won't let key players leave. Honestly I am not interested in anything Juventus could offer however there are 2-3 players at Real that might be useful. I wouldn't mind a straight swap with Real which would include Jovic, Achraf and Odegaard. They are 3 young players, who aren't really in Real first team picture, who have the potential to be WC and are exactly what we need. Thanks to those signings we would replace Pogba, we wouldn't need to buy a striker and we would be able to sell Lingard, Periera and Dalot. Hopefully we would recoup enough money (summer budget and player's fees) to buy Sancho.
Dortmund has a much more prevalent existing habit to let their players go to other clubs at their peak. In history they have been a selling club to finance their operation, as they don't have as high income as us from TV-deals and general sponsors from being a dominant world-wide brand with a huge fanbase.
We have not been strangers to letting players go on the cheap by keeping them longer than what makes financial sense (to much criticism from some in the fanbase). It's a gamble from our side if we keep Pogba through next season with the goal that he signs a new contract next spring or summer. That we belive in our plan to become competitive again, which makes good players want to stay with us.
Would it be best for us if he signs a new contract this summer? Yes, for sure. But from Pogba's perspective he doesn't have much to gain from extending this season other than a bit higher salary for a year. It would be a gamble on his side, but with pretty good odds that in a year his physical prowess and skill has not vanished, and that the financial market hopefully stabilizes a bit. If United doesn't look more solid by next summer he can easier get the move to a club of his choice since his fee will be lower, and he can make up the year of lost higher salary by getting a lil higher sign-on bonus since his fee is lower.
if Pogba extends this summer it will be because he already believes in this team to have turned it around, but also likely dependant on our signings this summer (and to some extent who leaves). Of course he's been uncertain about his future when we look at the past 4 years. It makes sense for him to consider other options when his contract is nearing an end if we don't improve as a team.
I've also been at crossroads in my life where I was considering a change, but decided to stay the course because I felt confident in reassurances that my gig was going to get better. And I didn't regret it either. It's the same for athletes, it's just a lot more people speculate about their future than ours. Putting on pressure (externally from the agent) is a tactic to get your employer to put their money where their mouth is and commit to giving you those reassurances, usually by signing other quality players, that will make you want to stay around. Similar to how you would renegotiate your own salary and benefits around your employer having a good plan for your future and making sure you have a good team of colleagues around you.
As for the bolded part. Transfer deals with 2 or more players coming from one club is extremely rare, as it's very complicated to get everyone to agree to terms. I also don't see Real willing to let Ødegaard go anywhere in the next years unless the player kicks up a fuss because he wants to leave. Which currently he doesn't have a reason for, especially not to us at the current moment (which breaks my heart to say). Ødegaard is still young and can afford to wait a few more seasons to continue developing as a player and see what his place will be at Real in the future, as the intention seems to be that he will replace Modric in a year or so.
I would love Ødegaard to us, but he's set up well financially and already in a top team, so he has no reason to look for a next move yet.
The most likely reason I would see him wanting a move to us (in some years) is if we reestablish ourselves as a dominant team again, we sign and field Haaland week in and out (and bonus if Solskjær is still the coach). National romanticism sometimes not to be underrated, especially from a country like Norway that does not have a history of a lot of good players. I could see them wanting to play together week in and out at club-level to increase their dynamic to help their performances on the National team. And United is a good option for that since we can afford big deals/salaries, and United is so big in Norway/Nordics.
Or we don't do well as a club and Haaland goes go Real instead.
Only time will tell.
I hope we sign Sancho and that Pogba stays, even if he doesn't sign a new contract for another year. If we can do that we look to become a dominant force again for many years with them, Rashford, Bruno and Martial. If we can add Haaland as well next summer then I'll be walking on clouds.
a- Sancho has 2 years left in his contract. Dortmund would either have to sell him now or risk losing him on the cheap in a years time
b- the Covid-19 crisis will hit clubs hard. Fees might go down because of it
c- Liverpool had always had issues in terms of paying huge salaries. Soon enough they would have to let Salah or Mane go
d- Sancho plays for Dortmund. Klopp has probably followed Jadon more closely then Ole did. He knows that Sancho won't be asking for ridiculous salary, that he's versatile, he's probably better then Mane and he would be considered as a huge signing which would in turn attract a lot of sponsors
Sancho to Liverpool is similar to what Rooney was for us ie a signing which we might not have needed at that given time but was simply a too good of a player to let rivals take him.
Thus I wouldn't count Liverpool out.
What makes you think that Sancho won't be asking for a high salary? He's one of the most hyped players in Europe, especially on the RW as there isn't many high calibre players there.
And with a recent CL win as well as this year's PL win they should be able to command higher sponsorship fees, they won't necessarily need new signings to attract sponsors, to pay the existing high salaries.
Now they will need to update their roster at some point in order to stay competitive, but I think it's still one or two seasons too early to bring in someone who would be considered an immediate direct competitor to their front 3. It risks ruining the team dynamic and spirits in what is currently such a dominant team.
