When was the last positive update? I've been trawling Twitter for days, looking for positive updates, even from shite sources. It's either silence or justification from British Journos as to why United are struggling to pay.
So after following this whole saga more often and frequently than is healthy for a human, ill give you a summary of where we’re at according to reports.
- Dortmund are still adamant that they want 120m euros or else he stays. They are still playing hard ball that he’s no longer leaving. This has been taken as a stance that you either pay what we’re asking for or he stays. I think it’s pretty accepted that they are serious and are unlikely to move much on the price.
- Utd are still in negotiations and still trying to do a deal for Sancho but are reluctant to pay the asking price and want to negotiate the price and structure. There has also been frustration that they are unable to negotiate directly with Dortmund are having to do so through the agent Lichtensteiner. Utd are probably reluctant to go through him because there will naturally be further fees that this middle man will be due which will come down to another battle of who and how much is paid to this guy.
- The general consensus is that Sancho wants to come and that personal terms won’t really be a big obstacle contrary to recent reports. However he’s not going to agitate for a move and is happy to move if an offer comes in that Dortmund are happy with.
- The recent addition is that the only thing holding up the deal now is Joel Glazers reluctance to sanction that amount of money for the transfer. Apparently ole, Woodward and the senior leadership team are in agreement that the player is worth the investment. Now this could be a genuine obstacle or it could be another neogitation tactic by united to make it appear they may not follow through with a big money offer if Dortmund don’t reduce their demands. There’s also reports that the middle agents fees are excessive which Utd aren’t willing to pay.
ultimately, it’s going to come down to whether the Glazers are happy to sanction the deal. Everyone else in the club is happy for the transfer to take place and they understand he would be well worth the investment.
Of course this is all based on reports that have come out and myself trying to read between the lines. There’s definitely still a strong possibility of the transfer taking place. If there wasn’t then negotiations would have ended long ago.
Personally I’m still of the opinion that the transfer will eventually take place and that we won’t manage to negotiate down on the price much if any at all. Similar to how Macguire and Bruno negotiations took place.
There were similar reports around the Bruno deal where Joel was apparently reluctant to sign it off.
I do think it will happen but may drag out for another few weeks as the Glazers will do everything in their power to drive the price down as it is still at the starting price from what we know.