Sancho is currently on loan at Chelsea, after ending up in the freezer of ex-Manchester United man Erik ten Hag.
Jadon Sancho could still return to Manchester United this summer as Chelsea face a contract dilemma that could see them punished financially. Despite recently explaining how he feels “at home” at Chelsea, it is still possible that he could return to United after the 2024/25 season has ended.
Sancho’s move to Enzo Maresca’s club includes an obligation for Chelsea to sign him at the end of the season if they finish 14th or higher in the Premier League.
With the Blues currently in fourth place, it looks like this will happen.
However, the report suggests that it is still possible that Sancho could return to United if Chelsea fail to meet the obligation – although this would cost a “significant penalty” to pull out of the agreed terms between the clubs.
It is also reported that players usually discuss terms before joining a club on loan if they have a desire to sign permanently. But it is understood that this is not the case with Sancho.
So two options remain: Chelsea can fulfill the obligation and then sell him to another club or face a financial penalty if they decide to send him back to United.
Sancho was one of the players that United’s minority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe claimed United still paid for despite joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
“I’ll give you an example, if you look at the players we buy this summer, who we didn’t buy, we buy Antony, we buy Casemiro, we buy Andre Onana, we buy Rasmus Hojlund, we buy Jadon Sancho [this summer],” Ratcliffe told BBC Sport on Monday.
“These are all things from the past, but whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited these things and we need to sort things out. For Sancho, who obviously now plays for Chelsea and we pay half of his salary, we pay £17 million to buy him in the summer. So it takes time for us to move away from the past to a new place in the future.”
Sancho’s United contract expires in the summer of 2026.
