Gerrard offers £73m Man Utd outcast shock escape route after making ’11th hour bid’
Saudi club Al Ettifaq, who are managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, are reportedly considering a shock loan move for Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho.
The Saudi transfer window is set to close at 10pm tonight in the U.K., so they have until then to negotiate a deal with the Red Devils.
Sancho signed for Man Utd from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 for a fee of £73m. He has never lived up to his hefty price tag, however.
The 23-year-old has made 82 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 12 goals and making six assists. This is in stark contrast to his time with Dortmund, where he scored 50 goals and made 64 assists in 137 games. At that time, he was considered to be one of the best young wingers in Europe.
Erik ten Hag left Sancho out of the Man Utd squad for their recent 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates. The reason given for this was his allegedly lacklustre performances in training.
Sancho retaliated by saying that he had been made a “scapegoat” for the team’s difficulties and there is a sense that the relationship between the player and manager is at breaking point.
Now, Gerrard is hoping that he can use the situation to his advantage by trying to sign the winger on loan.
READ MORE: ‘Petulant’ Man Utd attacker likened to Ronaldo after Ten Hag ‘told the truth’ about ‘sulking’ flop
According to a report from journalist James Benge, Al Ettifaq are poised to make ‘an 11th hour bid’ to sign Sancho on loan.
It’s claimed that the Saudi club have now ‘opened discussions’ with Man Utd over signing the winger until the end of the season.
Gerrard’s team would be open to including a buy option in the deal, but believe it is more likely that the clubs will agree on a straight loan.
Gerrard seems to be building an English core at Al Ettifaq, bringing in Jordan Henderson from Liverpool earlier this summer and completing the signing of Everton winger Demarai Gray on a permanent deal on Thursday.
It isn’t clear at this stage if Sancho would be open to the move or not. Given his recent fall out with Ten Hag, however, it is possible that he could leave Man Utd.
Ten Hag, of course, would also have to sign off on the deal. If he does, it would only confirm that Sancho isn’t in his plans for the future.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Al Ettifaq can sign Sancho on loan before the Saudi transfer window slams shut at 10pm tonight.
READ MORE: A heroic XI of players who rejected ‘crazy’ Saudi Arabia riches this summer as deadline nears
