Whether you choose to believe him or not, Monday saw Micheal Zorc rule out Jadon Sancho’s exit this summer. The Borussia Dortmund player has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, but BVB had given a deadline of August 10th for the club to agree a €120m deal.
That didn’t happen and Sancho flew off for his club’s training camp in Switzerland. Not many people had believed the deadline was concrete, but the German media seem more convinced after Zorc came out and spoke so strongly.
In Germany the situation is seen as very different to that of Ousmane Dembele. Whilst the Frenchman forced his way out of the Bundesliga, partly by going AWOL, it’s not thought Sancho will do the same, and Zorc has made it clear there’s no issue with the player or his agents.
Several journalists are with Dortmund at their training camp, as is the norm, and Ruhr Nachrichten, the club’s local newspaper, have compiled a collection of quotes from players about Sancho, as they see it, staying for next season.
Belgium international Axel Witsel is quoted as saying: “We only knew about it since Monday. We only found out when Michael Zorc announced it. Of course we are all happy. A player like Jadon who is so talented – we can only be glad that he stays because he is one of our most important players on the attack.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can added: “I’m personally very happy that Jadon is staying. For me he is already a world class player. He’s very, very important to the team. I hope he will continue to score many goals and help us as a team to win as many games as possible.”
Danish midfielder Thomas Delaney said: “With Jadon staying, our options are greater. He’s one of the best players in the Bundesliga. You just have to look at his goals and assists last season. He’s still very young and I don’t know if he might get any better. But I also expect a lot from him in the next season. He’s just extraordinarily talented.”
Erliang Haaland, who was himself heavily linked with a move to Manchester United before signing for Dortmund, is looking forward to some assists: “Jadon is a fantastic player, so I’m very happy that he is staying. I’m sure he’ll give me a couple of goals – but I’ll give him some too.”
Mats Hummels was the last of Ruhr Nachrichten’s collection: “Everyone sees it very positively. We don’t have to argue that Jadon is an outstanding footballer. He’s still young, he can be the player who can make all the difference in many games, his potential is relatively unlimited. If he wants to show that with us for another year or more, I will of course be very happy. It is extremely important that you do not always have a high turnover in the regular eleven. In Achraf Hakimi we only have one regular player who has left us, which gives us a great chance to get even better. That is not a given, but it gives us the opportunity to take another step. And that must be the goal for the coming season.”
Manchester United supporters will hope Borussia Dortmund and their players are forced to backtrack on their comments in the coming months. That largely depends on the Premier League club stumping up the €120m required, and Zorc being prepared to accept the mockery which will arrive if he ends up selling Sancho.
