Gareth Bale to Jadon Sancho: All the players Manchester United were supposed to be signing this summer
Manchester United still has some work to do and it's on the signings front. They might start their Premier League season a week later, but that still hasn't solved their summer signings. Ahead of their season opener against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, they have lost the race of snatching Gareth Bale. Borussia Dortmund star, Jadon Sancho, is still in their crosshairs and there is no doubt they would go after him aggressively. For now, their only new signing is Donny van de Beek from Ajax for £40million.
For starters, they were put their hat in the ring alongside Tottenham in pursuit of Gareth Bale but balked out when they realized the payout was a lot. According to The Independent, the Spurs are looking at a one-year loan, at no fee, and 50% of Bale's wages. This would essentially mean he would be paid around £250,000 per week. The site also added that United felt this would be a lot for a player of Bale's age and from their previous experience with Alexis Sanchez.
Up next was Thiago Alcantara. The Spaniard was supposed to be their other big move ahead of the start of the season, but they lost him to Liverpool. An ESPN report said the club had contacted the midfielder's representatives but found him to be too expensive with his £200,000-a-week wage ask. Defending champs, Liverpool swopped in with an initial £20 million, a four-year deal for the Bayern Munich player.
"I can confirm that FC Bayern and Liverpool have reached a final agreement," Bayern chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Thursday, confirming the news. "It was Thiago's big wish to try something new towards the end of his career." The other name on United's list was Real Madrid's Sergio Reguilon with Chelsea, Tottenham, and Everton gunning for the left-back.
Reguilon is now part of the Spurs outfit for £27.6m after United declined to accept Real Madrid's insistence on a buyback clause. According to The Guardian, the United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, was keen on slotting Reguilon and have him with existing left-back Luke Shaw. Right now, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the management will be aggressive in their approach to buy Jadon Sancho, the Borussia Dortmund forward. The saga of signing him though seems to never end.
Dortmund has capped Sancho's price at 120 million euros ($144 million), whose career is on a meteoric rise as he netted his career-best figures of 17 goals and 16 assists last season in the Bundesliga. The team finished second to Bayern Munich. After having missed out on adding some of the big names, United is now looking at alternatives and one of them is Watford winger Ismaila Sarr. The Senegal forward is next on their radar as they hope to make it count.
A Manchester Evening News story also outlined the interest the club has shown in right-winger, Amad Traore. The Ivory Coast player, currently in the Atalanta BC setup, became the youngest player, at 17 to score on his Serie A debut.
