Chelsea are ready to sign Jadon Sancho on a permanent transfer from Manchester United but only if he takes a significant pay-cut.
The Blues have been weighing up whether or not to sign Sancho permanently following his mixed loan spell at Stamford Bridge.
Sancho struggled for consistency following his arrival from Old Trafford but did help Chelsea qualify for the Champions League and win the Europa Conference League.
When Chelsea signed Sancho on loan, they agreed to make the deal permanent at the end of the season for between £20-25m.
However, it emerged earlier in the season that Chelsea were able to get out of the deal by paying Manchester United £5m in compensation.
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Sky Sports say Chelsea have opened talks with Sancho’s representatives and hope to keep him at the club.
With a return to Manchester United seemingly off the table, Sancho is keen to sign a permanent deal with Chelsea, the club he supported growing up.
But talkSPORT say Chelsea have informed Sancho he will need to take a pay-cut if he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge and agree a deal which fits in with the wage structure at the club.
Sancho is believed to be on around £300,000-a-week and a compromise will need to be reached as Chelsea’s policy has been to sign players on long, incentivised contracts with lower base wages.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca gave little away when asked about Sancho’s future following the Conference League victory over Real Betis.
‘We are going to sit with the club and decide what happens for next year,’ Maresca said.
‘If we finish fourth it is also because of Jadon, if we win tonight it is also because of Jadon. It is normal in a season to go a little bit up and down.’
As has often been the case this season, Sancho started on Chelsea’s bench against Betis but made a telling contribution following his introduction, curling home his side’s third goal in a 4-1 win.
Speaking after Chelsea won the Conference League, Blues hero Joe Cole urged his former club to keep Sancho and tipped him to go to another level next season.
‘I think Jadon is a really great player and I think he’s done well,’ Cole said.
‘He’s been rotated in and out a bit but I want to see Jadon playing. You want a player like that in your squad. It will come down to a financial decision I imagine but I really like him.’
Asked whether he thought Sancho had done enough to earn a permanent move to Chelsea, Cole added: ‘Yes I do.
‘This is a kid who went to Dortmund and was a superstar as a kid. It wasn’t working at Man United but he’s done well, he’s got his career back on track at Chelsea.
‘I think there’s more to come from him as well.’
Sancho scored 12 goals in 83 appearances for Manchester United following a big-money move from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
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