Chelsea have signed Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho on loan until the end of the season.
The deal includes an obligation for Chelsea to sign the England international, 24, for between £20-25m next summer.
Sancho joined United in a £73m deal from German club Borussia Dortmund in July 2021 but has had a difficult time at Old Trafford.
He made 83 appearances across the three full seasons but had a high-profile falling out with manager Erik ten Hag which led to him training away from the first team.
Having re-joined Dortmund on loan in January, he returned to United in the summer and has not been in the squad for either of their Premier League games so far.
The last of his 23 England caps came back in 2021, having been overlooked for Euro 2024 and the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
For Manchester United, this deal represents the best way out of a bad situation.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada have had to navigate their way out of major problem not of their making.
Sancho had already fallen out with Erik ten Hag when the trio of senior figures were installed. The uneasy truce negotiated to get Sancho back for pre-season training and onto the club’s tour of the United States was a temporary state that allowed him to retain his fitness, making it easier to find an alternative club to continue his career.
The reality is even before his very public bust-up with his manager, Sancho promised far more than he delivered for the Old Trafford club.
United are trying to create a new reality and the emergence of Alejandro Garnacho last season and Amad Diallo at the start of this one has given Ten Hag other options for the wide positions, even without including Marcus Rashford and Antony.
It is a pity for everyone the move didn’t work. Given all that has happened, this solution is not great. But it is the best way out.
‘Sancho comes at a good price’
BBC Sport football news reporter Nizaar Kinsella:
For Chelsea, the question of signing Sancho will simply be, why?
They have Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Joao Felix and Marc Guiu in their attack.
But they will argue that Sancho comes at a good price and that he could follow Cole Palmer’s trajectory if allowed to get back to his best.
There is a host of ex-Manchester City back room staff at the club, including manager Enzo Maresca and influential recruitment specialist Joe Shields.
This is a player who, in Maresca’s words, “he knows” and may ultimately fit his system.
Chelsea also like signing players that supported them as children, and south London born Sancho fits that bill.
