'Deal on' - Fabrizio Romano gives transfer update on shock Manchester United exit

Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho is in talks over a shock move to Premier League rivals Chelsea after opting against a switch to Serie A giants Juventus.

The Guardian reported on Thursday that the £73m signing was hoping for a move to Stamford Bridge, despite the Old Lady ‘persisting’ with their efforts to sign the Manchester City academy graduate before tonight’s transfer deadline. A swap deal with out-of-favour Blues player Raheem Sterling was mooted but, as things stand, does not appear to be the way forward for either club. In a fresh update on Friday, Fabrizio Romano reported Sancho had given the ‘green light’ to join Chelsea and that the clubs were in talks with the deal described as ‘on’. It would mark a surprise development with Chelsea already having a host of players on their books with little chance to offload them all before the transfer deadline.

Sancho was banished from the United first-team squad last season after a public spat with manager Erik ten Hag following the Red Devils’ 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. After the pair were unable to resolve their differences, the forward returned to Dortmund on loan and helped the club reach the Champions League final, which they lost 2-0 to Real Madrid at Wembley.

Upon his return to England, Ten Hag revealed that the pair had settled their issues with Sancho re-introduced into the first-team squad. However, he has not been in the squad for United’s first two Premier League games against Fulham and Brighton and Hove Albion and played just seven minutes in the Community Shield against Man City earlier this month. He is under contract at Old Trafford until at least the summer of 2026 but his long-term future now appears to be away from the club as Chelsea look to get a deal over the line before the 11pm deadline.

A deal could still be finalised after the summer transfer window comes to a close at 11pm and that would come in the form of a deal sheet. As explained on the Premier League’s official website: “The deal sheet allows a club to confirm that a deal has been reached in order to allow for additional time to submit the remaining documentation.”

That means, with this year’s 11pm deadline, a deal sheet can only be used after 9pm on Friday and must be fully submitted to the Premier League before 11pm. Once the deal sheet is successfully with the league, the two clubs involved in the deal will have an additional two hours to submit the full paperwork. However, there is a caveat in place. According to the Premier League website: “If a club are looking to complete an international transfer, they still have to comply with the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) deadline of midnight.”