Six Man Utd stars who were to be sold to fund Sancho deal and where they are now

05 November 2023 , 08:00

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Six Man Utd stars who were to be sold to fund Sancho deal and where they are now

Manchester United moved heaven and earth to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.

The Red Devils had come close to signing him the summer prior, but were unwilling to meet the German club's asking price, which was reported to be more than £100million. United did strongly consider it, and even mulled over selling as many as six of their own players to ensure they were the ones who landed Sancho's signature, instead of Liverpool and Chelsea who were also linked at the time.

Mirror Football has taken a look at who the six in question were and how their own careers have fared three years down the line. Rarely have the Red Devils been quite so smitten with a player so young that they'd be willing to part ways with half a dozen members of their own crop.

Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez left Man Utd for Inter Milan and after a brief spell at Marseille, is now back at the San Siro

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The Chilean international failed to ever recreate the kind of form that saw him light up the Premier League with Arsenal once he'd joined United. Though he didn't cost the club anything, he is still somehow viewed as one of their worst ever deals.

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He was loaned out to Inter Milan in the summer of 2019, before making the switch permanent a year later. The forward left United on a free transfer and undeniably fared better at the San Siro.

However, Sanchez was soon on the move again and after three years with Inter, two of which were on a permanent deal, the ex-Arsenal man joined Marseille once he'd agreed to terminate his contract with the Serie A titans. After one year with Marseille, Sanchez agreed to return to Inter Milan where he remains to date.

Marcos Rojo

Marcos Rojo now plies his trade for Boca Juniors

Despite playing a fair amount of games for the Red Devils, Rojo remains one of United's more forgettable figures of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Rojo managed to last seven years on the books at Old Trafford, though in that time he made less than 150 appearances.

In January 2020, just before the Covid lockdown, Rojo was loaned to boyhood club Estudiantes in Argentina. Having impressed there, the defender earned a move to the big boys of Argentine football.

Rojo joined Boca Juniors on a permanent deal in the summer of 2021 for an undisclosed fee. The same injury issues that plagued him at United followed him to South America, with the defender suffering a cruciate ligament tear months after joining.

Phil Jones

Phil Jones spent 12 years at Man Utd (Getty Images)

Somehow, Phil Jones managed to spend 12 years at United before eventually being released at the end of the 22/23 season. The man who was once tipped to become the club's best ever player had endured rotten injury luck and saw his chances to play drastically reduced.

Jones fell further and further down the pecking order with each season, though did enjoy a brief revival under Ralf Rangnick which saw him start against Liverpool at Anfield in 2022. He is now involved in United's youth set-up and taking his coaching badges.

Chris Smalling

Chris Smalling has shone since joining Roma (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

Smalling was actually one of the more impressive defenders during this particular era of United's history, but not even he could help halt the demise. Instead, Smalling opted to test himself abroad, at the time a relatively rare move for an Englishman, and join Roma on loan in 2019.

Having impressed in Serie A, he joined Roma on a permanent basis in 2020 and has stayed put since. Smalling played his part in the Italian side becoming the inaugural winners of the Europa Conference League in 2022.

Clearly valued highly at the Stadio Olimpico, Smalling penned a new deal this summer and is tied to the club until 2025. Undoubtedly, the centre-back is one of the more successful players in this list.

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Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard is now without a club (Getty Images)

Lingard's career since the summer of 2020 is one of the more confusing. The England ace joined West Ham on loan at the turn of 2021 and shone for the Hammers, managing to play his way back into the international set-up for a fleeting moment.

However, despite clear interest from David Moyes ' men, his switch wasn't made permanent as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had allegedly promised the wide-forward more game time at Old Trafford. Game time that never came.

Lingard spent one more season sitting on the bench at United before making the move to Nottingham Forest on a one-year deal. His time at the City Ground drastically underwhelmed and despite recently training with Al-Ettifaq, the 30-year-old remains without a club.

Diogo Dalot

Diogo Dalot remains a regular in the United side (Getty Images)

The one man who remains in the United squad to this day. Dalot has started nine of United 10's league games this season and even popped up with a vital winner away at Sheffield United earlier this month.

Whatever United were aiming to fetch for Dalot to raise the Sancho funds, it is likely to be a higher fee nowadays. United's back-four are often criticised but Dalot has managed to avoid being the lightning rod for the outside scrutiny this term.

The Portugal international signed a new deal with the club earlier this summer and is tied to Old Trafford until 2028, with the option for a further year.

Jadon Sancho looks sure to leave Man United sooner rather than later (Getty Images)

As for Sancho, when he did make the move to Old Trafford 12 months later than expected for £73m, it was seen as a bargain by some sections of the United faithful given Dortmund's previous demands. And yet, few signings have been as underwhelming.

The wide-forward is currently in exile at the club, banned from training with the first-team until he apologises to manager Erik ten Hag for publicly calling the Dutchman a liar in response to his claims Sancho had not been pulling his weight in training.

With no resolution in sight, it is widely believed that Sancho has played his last game for the club. Interest from a number of European sides is believed to be mounting, but nothing concrete at this stage.

Josh O'Brien