Chelsea pass on Sancho so pay Man Utd £5m penalty

Chelsea will not sign winger Jadon Sancho permanently. Instead, they will pay a £5 million penalty to return him to Manchester United.

Sancho joined Chelsea on loan last summer after a fallout with United's Erik ten Hag. United signed him for £73 million from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 and are fine with his departure. Chelsea did not pay a loan fee and covered half of his £300,000-a-week wages.

The Blues had an obligation to buy Sancho for about £25 million if they finished higher than 14th in the Premier League. They did finish higher but could not agree on a contract with Sancho’s representatives. He would need to take a pay cut from his current deal at United.

Sancho has one year left on his United contract, and the club still owes Borussia Dortmund £17 million. He scored in Chelsea's 4-1 win over Real Betis, helping them win the Conference League. This was their first trophy since February 2022.

Sancho ended the season with five goals and ten assists in 42 games. Although he is under contract until June 30 at Chelsea, he may not play in this month's Club World Cup in the U.S.

Chelsea are interested in signing AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan. The 29-year-old is open to moving to Stamford Bridge. He has been Milan's regular goalkeeper since joining from Lille in 2021.

Maignan became France's first-choice keeper after Hugo Lloris retired in January 2023. Chelsea have struggled to find a long-term solution for their goalkeeping position since signing Kepa Arrizabalaga for £71 million in 2018.

They later brought Edouard Mendy into the squad, but he left for Al-Ahli in 2023. Kepa spent the last two seasons on loan at Real Madrid and Bournemouth. In recent years, Chelsea also signed Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic, and Filip Jorgensen but remain unconvinced by all three options.

Petrovic was on loan at Strasbourg last season while Sanchez and Jorgensen both played for Chelsea briefly.