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LONDON. — Jadon Sancho’s £77 million move to Manchester United “is on the home stretch” — and Borussia Dortmund have already lined up a replacement.
The German club plan to reinvest some of the Sancho money to buy PSV Eindhoven and Holland star Donyell Malen.
It suggests completion of England forward Sancho’s move to Old Trafford is imminent with only the finer details to be ironed out now.
The long-running transfer saga is close to an end with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finally about to get his man ahead of the new season.
German newspaper Bild report talks with Malen’s agent Mino Raiola have already opened with Dortmund looking to pay around £25million for a player also linked with Liverpool.
This fee could rise slightly with bonuses and add-ons but Dortmund are determined that most of the money raised from Sancho’s sale will plug the £65m gap in their finances left by the Covid-19 crisis.
Former Arsenal academy player Malen (22) scored 27 goals and created a further 10 for PSV during the 2020-21 season and is currently with Holland at Euro 2020.
Malen has featured in all three of their group matches and started the third of these, a 3-0 win over North Macedonia this week.
But Bild report a slight issue for Dortmund. With Liverpool and other clubs interested in Malen, they will need to move quickly to secure the deal, which means completing the Sancho transfer soon.
Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has made it clear that they will look elsewhere if PSV decide to try and trigger a bidding war that drives up the asking price.
Luckily they have a good rapport with Raiola after he brokered the transfer of star striker Erling Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg in 2020.
Malen plays as more of a central striker for PSV but is capable of playing out wide with his pace and trickery.
As with last year, Dortmund gave United a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ fee for Sancho, this time £77m, and it appears United have matched the bid with the deal expected to be completed in the coming days.
Dortmund also set a date of July 23 for the move to be completed to avoid drawn-out negotiations interrupting their pre-season preparations.
He would be United’s third-most expensive signing behind Paul Pogba (£89m) and Harry Maguire (£80m). — Mailonline.
Online Reporter