The electrifying form of Manchester United’s front three, especially the precocious Mason Greenwood, has put the club’s hierarchy in a long overdue position of power in their pursuit of Jadon Sancho.
As reported by i last month, United’s upturn in form as well as additional options in the striker department has persuaded them to take a patient approach in their pursuit this summer of their No 1 transfer target, Borussia Dortmund’s Sancho.
However, further developments this week suggest that United have taken the stance that £50m is the highest they will go in order to sign the 20-year-old – which is roughly half of Dortmund’s valuation of the England forward.
Exerting a position of power is not something United – so desperate to return to anything like their former grandeur – have been able to do for a long time, but for a variety of reasons, they feel buoyant enough to start calling the shots once more.
Firstly, the form of United’s front three has been very impressive since the return of the Premier League after the enforced coronavirus break.
Greenwood, 18, was a player that United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to bed in slowly to aid his development, but with six Premier League goals already to his name – the first United player ever to reach such a tally before their 19th birthday – means he is ahead of progress.
The path for Greenwood has been laid out for some time. The excitement around his talent has been hard to keep in check given his incredible goalscoring record at every youth level before stepping up to the senior side.
Solskjaer and his staff see Greenwood as the club’s long-term No 9, but they are utilising him out wide initially to get him used to the way United play. If Greenwood can deliver goalscoring performances such as his eye-catching display at Brighton on Tuesday while playing out of position, then it will be hard to control expectation around his talent once he moves into the centre of the attack.
Anthony Martial scored the first hat-trick of his career last week against Sheffield United, while Marcus Rashford, though he has not found the scoresheet of late, is playing his part in a United strikeforce opponents fear once again.
In all competitions, Rashford, Greenwood and Martial have scored as many goals (51) as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané this season. Of course, there are caveats to a statistic like that, but on the numbers alone, that represents a notable return.
Secondly in United’s pursuit of Sancho, Pep Guardiola’s insistence that a Manchester City return is out of the question improves United position yet further.
Sancho wants to move back to the Premier League for his next club, and with City out of the running and Chelsea having gone for Timo Werner, two of United’s main rivals for the Dortmund star’s capture have been removed.
Liverpool pulled out of a move for Werner as a result of financial constraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic, so who else does that leave in the Premier League? It seems unlikely that Arsenal or Tottenham would be Sancho’s team of choice, given the prospect of neither north London club qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Landing Sancho for £50m would be wishful thinking on United’s part, but stating such a figure may at least cause Dortmund to reconsider their valuation.
For now, though, if the goals keep flying in for United’s front three, patience might be the best tactic as they bid to sign Sancho at a price that suits them.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/38m8sm4
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