Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that the club will not pursue a deal for Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, giving Manchester United a free run at the Englishman.
As part of the deal which took Sancho to Dortmund in 2017, City negotiated the option to match any offer which the German side receive for Sancho, and given Leroy Sané's imminent move to Bayern Munich, there were rumours that City could try and bring the Englishman back to the Etihad Stadium.
However, speaking in a press conference (via the Daily Mail), the boss insisted that City will not move for Sancho as the winger's decision to leave the club in the first place proves that he does not actually want to play there.
"He (Sancho) decided to leave, why should he decide to come back?' Guardiola said. "When he decided to move to Dortmund, it is not because he is going to decide to come back two years later. It would make no sense. He didn't want to be here so that is why he doesn't want to come back here."
With Liverpool declining to spend heavily and Chelsea focusing their investment elsewhere, that leaves United as the only real contenders for Sancho's signature.
? This cheeky nutmeg by Jadon Sancho wins Skill of the Day! ?#UCL | @Mastercard pic.twitter.com/pJniS4Z9Jb
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 18, 2020
Despite Sky Sports News' claim that United will refuse to pay over £50m to land the winger, 90min understands that both parties still expect to get a deal done at somewhere far closer to the £100m mark before the summer window closes.
For City, their spending will be focused on other areas, with Guardiola keen to prepare for the exits of some of his ageing stars.
"Some players have to be replaced," he said. "But it's not a disaster, it's part of football. I want to sit with the club, take a little time to think about which players we should replace.
"We'd like to stay with the players who gave us what they did for the past decade and for them to be eternal, but we grow in years and sometimes we have to replace them.
"It's not for the lack of quality but for the absence of Vincent Kompany, David [Silva]. Fernandinho and Sergio [Agüero] have one year left but I don't know if they will extend or not. We have to rebuild. We're going to make Liverpool feel it next season and fight for the next chapters."
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Source : 90min