Is Jadon Sancho really worth the 100 plus million fee?

[Darlington Padgett]

We paid 90 million for a CB who can't run and takes a century to turn around

 

[Lee565]

How much would the likes of mbappe, neymar, sterling, kane cost or even look at last year's transfers of joao felix and hazard and griezmann.

Sancho's price is about what you would expect based on those examples and not one that is crazily over the top

 

[davidmichael]

Sancho is behind only Mbappe as the best youngster on the planet and his stats/performances over the last couple of years show he’ll be in the top 5-10 players in world football in the post Messi/Ronaldo era so 100% he’s worth the money and our board are mad if they don’t sign him now as next summer we won’t get a free run, when he ends up somewhere else and tears it up it’ll show how inept our board actually are.

 

[Suedesi]

He's worth that to Dortmund, he's not worth that to us.

Strategically, and given how condensed the season will be, I would have gone for 3 players (LB, Upamecano and a DM) now rather than blowing the load on Sancho. Next season I go for Sancho.

United's starting 11 is as good as any in the league - we proved it by beating City home and away, beating Chelsea home and away, beating Leicester home and away, beating Spurs and drawing there. Our Achilles heel is when we can't field the starting 11. Therefore, and given the condensed season, strengthening the squad rather than the starting 11 should be the top priority.

My 2 pence.

 

[Suedesi]

Also, I question the sanity of blowing 120m on Sancho (as good as he is) when we have other obvious holes to fill. A LB, a CB and and an average right winger would cost about that.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Under normal circumstances, he'd be worth it.

These aren't normal circumstances, though.

I dunno, if I were a United negotiator, I'd stress the obvious possibility that come next window the market could be entirely fecked. As in - the likelihood of getting anyone to pay whatever the default asking price is right now...is slim to nil. So, if you consider Sancho an asset to be sold (for top dollar) - which is what Dortmund usually do, i.e. they don't hang on to valuable players on principle, they are a selling club - you might want to consider doing it NOW (even if the price isn't quite what you'd normally want).

 

[El-Manos]

Short and sweet: yes.

 

[Idxomer]

For United, yes.

For anyone else, no.

 

[SilentStrike]

Absolutely

 

[hobbers]

Well it'd certainly be less painful than paying 80m for someone like Grealish or Maddison.

 

[Bird Nerd]

Is Sancho worth 100MM? I think yes as he is approaching Mbappe in quality. And with his youth you know that he is (if performing as he should) going to go up in value.

The problem is can United afford him. The answer is an obvious no. Not with the blood suckers who own us and the ineptness of our transfer team.

Next year there will be competition and we will have lost our chance to acquire him. So it is probably better to hold onto him this year (from a Dortmund perspective) and see if they can have a bidding war for him next year.

 

[Snow]

Paul Scholes was competing with two world class players for his postion. (I'm not saying they were better). Who is Sancho competing with?

He was competing with inept managers.

 

[Greck]

After finally getting to watch Maguire after they said he would be a VVD type missing piece in our defence I think it became clear most people don't know much about these players, they just like big transfers. The next transfer will always be the missing jigsaw piece

 

[Dennis Viollet]

if we paid 90 for Maguire, yeah.... Jadon worth it.

 

[In Rainbows]

The idea that you need to have the best team possible right now is hilariously short sighted. Accept reality and realize we're not going to win in the next 2 years. If we truly compete next season, consider it a blessing.

Build the best possible team 3 years from now. A lot of people are essentially saying, buy 3 players for the same price to shore up our side, because they have this false hope that they would help us compete for the title now. What do you do the following year? Buy another 2-3 players to shore up the side? And repeat the process again? Meanwhile, the side that has Sancho will likely have more quality in 3 years time because nobody you buy will be as good as Sancho.

Similarly, I find it weird to have this Greenwood vs Sancho talk. If anything, you should be salivating at the idea of pairing up Greenwood with Sancho for the next 10 years. That should be the goal. To maximize our chance at a title, and you do that by having the best quality possible for the longest possible window of contention. Besides, Sancho isn't even just a right winger. He dominated at youth level on the left side, and has done equally well on the left for Dortmund. In fact, I'm sure Sancho prefers the left side, but he has to do a job on the right as per his coaches instructions and he's done really well out there.

Lastly, What more does Sancho have to show to prove he is worth the money? 5 more England performances, and CL domination? In which case, his price will go up even more because that is Mbappe territory. You're not getting Mbappe for Sancho money.

There's not much more a 20 year old can do to prove he's worth the money like Sancho has. Good luck finding that player over the last 10 years, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Serie A, etc... included. There's like 3-4 of them and they all went for similar money.


Edit: And just to emphasize Sancho's potential/ability, it's not just his final product being elite. His dribbling statistics are impressive too and his technique is great too. He's not some donkey who is purely end product.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Yes, he's worth it because of his age, what he's already shown, and his ceiling. We've needed a proper RW for ever and yes we're a bit desperate. So in these circumstances he's worth it to our club. Another club might not have the same desperation but it's all relative. I also think this might be our last big purchase for a bit. We can be a bit more picky after this. For example trying to secure a decent CB or back up LW, or striker. Not sure we need to break the bank for those other issues we have.

 

[luke511]

It's laughable how people think there's other holes to fill/positions to prioritise over the RW. We don't have a player whose most natural position is the right wing, in our entire squad. It's been the case for over 6 years as well, pure negligence.

 

[passing-wind]

It's a good post via the OP I've always alluded that Sancho is relatively unproven outside Germany, doesn't light up the England squad and hasn't played elsewhere aside City's youth ranks at competitive level. There's a potential for him to be a Kagawa but fundamentally considering his age, his attributes and his position he would be of very good value to our team.

I don't think Sancho makes sense for a City / Liverpool given their forwards are comfortably more established but outside of us and maybe Chelsea I don't see him being worth the trouble for any other club financially. We are not talking about Mbappe who for 150 million (GBP) would equivocate a perception of good value given his level of talent and had most of Europe chasing his signature. I think Sancho's a level below but good enough to signify 100 million.

 

[kafta]

Yes Ed he is, now get off the caf and go make it happen ffs.

 

[Zen86]

He most certainly isn’t. He’s not a guaranteed success and that kind of money will heap a lot of pressure on a young player who, lets face it, is largely unproven. There have been plenty of players who look better at Dortmund than they do elsewhere, and we see big money for young player type transfers going wrong, a lot.

 

[bsCallout]

People confuse his value with what we should pay for him.

He's one of most talented youngsters in the world with big potential.

Other players in that bracket have gone for similar or more.

We however probably shouldn't pay that. Bayern, Liverpool, City probably should.

We need reinforcements elsewhere big time and 120mil is too much for us now.

If he was our player, I wouldn't sell him for less than 150mil. That is what value is.

 

[Irrational.]

It's like having the choice of paying for a top spec MacBook Pro against a cheaper HP laptop on sale. One is built with quality parts, will cost you an arm and a leg but will last you, the other you'll probably end up replacing in a year or two.

In any other year this would be an easy deal to make. But the current situation and Dortmund's stubbornness makes this almost impossible to complete.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

I think he is a bit overrated. Most of the big clubs are not going for him. With our coaching he will turn into another Lingard sooner rather than later.

 

[RedRonaldo]

No one worths 100m plus fee for us.

Messi/Ronaldo? Too old
Mbappe? He won't stay long, why waste money on him?
Neymar? Wage is too high
Kane? Would rather play Martial or Greenwood
De Bruyne? City won't sell.

So, no one worth 100m+ to us
Also, there's simply no value in market
And the bottom line is, we don't have the cash.

 

[tenpoless]

If you look far into the future, 5 or 7 years later, it makes sense why he's so expensive. His value will only increase.

 

[KennyBurner]

No he isn’t which is why he isn’t here right now. Just because the seller quotes a ridiculous price doesn’t not mean the player is worth that much.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Short answer is no.

 

[Rampant Red Rodriguez]

Nope. I don't think anyone is worth that much. In general I am starting to be put off football because of the disgusting values attached to the game. When someone can earn your decade of earnings in a single week of gross wages, then there's something that has to budge.

But the free market will not allow it to happen, so it's a problem with the market itself and the regulators should do something about it. But it's not going to happen though..

 

[BootsyCollins]

In our situation, yes he is.
if we were now where we were ten years ago, no he is not.

 

[sammsky1]

He's worth that to Dortmund, he's not worth that to us.
Strategically, and given how condensed the season will be, I would have gone for 3 players (LB, Upamecano and a DM) now rather than blowing the load on Sancho. Next season I go for Sancho.
United's starting 11 is as good as any in the league - we proved it by beating City home and away, beating Chelsea home and away, beating Leicester home and away, beating Spurs and drawing there. Our Achilles heel is when we can't field the starting 11. Therefore, and given the condensed season, strengthening the squad rather than the starting 11 should be the top priority.
My 2 pence.

If we buy the players you suggest, I doubt we'll have the cash for Sancho next summer as club won't make any decent profit this season.

 

[sammsky1]

I don't think Sancho is worth £100m in this economy, and looks like our board thinks the same.
I also think BVB will also realise this, and sell him for less before this window closes.

As an aside, I was quite staggered by how many muppets kept yelling 'just pay the money' in the transfer thread in mid August.

 

[sunama]

We extended Ighalo to January. What are the chances we're going back in for him then, when we think we'll get him for £60-70M due to COVID, only to still pay the £110-120M near the end of the January window..

Knowing us, we'll go in in January and end up paying more than the asking price is today.
We are terrible at negotiating transfer deals. The guys who negotiate and offer contracts should all be fired for being so bad at their job.
Offering Phil Jones a contact, alone, should be classed as gross misconduct and instant dismissal.

 

[jesperjaap]

He's worth that to Dortmund, he's not worth that to us.

Strategically, and given how condensed the season will be, I would have gone for 3 players (LB, Upamecano and a DM) now rather than blowing the load on Sancho. Next season I go for Sancho.

United's starting 11 is as good as any in the league - we proved it by beating City home and away, beating Chelsea home and away, beating Leicester home and away, beating Spurs and drawing there. Our Achilles heel is when we can't field the starting 11. Therefore, and given the condensed season, strengthening the squad rather than the starting 11 should be the top priority.

My 2 pence.

You are in dreamland if you think our starting eleven is as good as any in the league. How many players start for City/Liverpool on performance from our squad....I can tell you the answer, it is zero.

I get the point of three players rather than Sancho......but how do you know that is blowing the lot, how do you know what we can spend? If SAncho has a huge season and Euros, other clubs could also come in for him, could be an even higher fee and higher wages. Our best opportunity I believe is signing him now, actually no, it was 4 weeks ago.

Yes our squad is actually big but yes needs improving quality wise, that is obvious. But there are also areas in the first eleven hugely need improving....centre back and right wing being the obvious ones.....not left back as we seem to be doing, is that really a priority this summer, seems ludicrous to me.

 

[sunama]

The idea that you need to have the best team possible right now is hilariously short sighted. Accept reality and realize we're not going to win in the next 2 years. If we truly compete next season, consider it a blessing.

I'm not sure if you are serious or not, but we won't be winning the league for at least 4 years. That's if we get really really lucky.
Realistically, I'd say 1 league title in the next 10 years.
Our aim is Top 4 - that's it (as evidenced by the last 7 years). As long as we keep winning the 4th place trophy, our owners will be happy.

You are in dreamland if you think our starting eleven is as good as any in the league. How many players start for City/Liverpool on performance from our squad....I can tell you the answer, it is zero.

I do agree with you, but remember, most fans are deluded and believe we are better than we actually are.
We are inconsistent as evidenced in our first league game of the season. Those same fans are making excuses for the loss, chalking it down to fitness. That may well be, but we've scored 3 pts, while some teams are already on 6. A title contending team will never allow 3 pts to slip away so easily. Under Fergie, if a team took 3pts from us, it was like going to war.
It sucks for me to be so negative (I truly believed we were going for the title in Jose's 3rd season, until Woodward said that our squad is good enough - which made me realise that our aim is not to win the league title).

 

[Crashoutcassius]

A house isn't necessarily worth the same to you, as it is to someone else. Maguire isn't a £80m defender, but he was probably worth it for us last season. Would Sancho be worth £100m for City/Pool? Probably not. For us? I'd say so.

Well said

 

[Jibbs]

Marketing wise he is... Isco at Malaga and Rodriguez at Porto/Monaco were at similar levels.

 

[elnorte]

Given how things have been going these last few years Sancho would sign for us now and be a complete flog, but join Liverpool next year and turn into an absolute star.

 

[Foxbatt]

No, he is not worth that much in this team. The previous OP is correct. He plays well because he plays in a better set up and a better coached team.

 

[In Rainbows]

I'm not sure if you are serious or not, but we won't be winning the league for at least 4 years. That's if we get really really lucky.
Realistically, I'd say 1 league title in the next 10 years.
Our aim is Top 4 - that's it (as evidenced by the last 7 years). As long as we keep winning the 4th place trophy, our owners will be happy.

3 or 4 doesn't matter when it comes to being a strong contender. The point is we're not there yet and won't be in the very short term as you said. So planning our transfer strategy around having to compete now makes no sense. This would be completely different if our key players were older and thus to maximize our chance of winning we would have to prioritize those key players and their realistic window of peak performance.

As it is, with Greenwood, Henderson, Rashford, Martial, VDB, etc...it makes no sense to rush things. Getting Sancho to add to this group would make Liverpool's job much harder, not now (as clearly they're in their peak), but compare that to life after VVD, Salah, Mane, etc...

 

[Suedesi]

If we buy the players you suggest, I doubt we'll have the cash for Sancho next summer as club will won't make any decent profit this season.

I doubt Sancho will be 120m next season. Maybe 80 million if he has another stellar season and he doesn't renew.