Jadon Sancho is still waiting for a club to give him an escape route from exile at Manchester United, and the winger has now discovered one side extremely keen to sign him
Jadon Sancho has been bombarded by messages from Besiktas fans on social media after the Turkish side emerged as an escape route for the Manchester United reject.
Sancho has been exiled at United, where Ruben Amorim has placed him and other unwanted players in a so-called ‘bomb squad’. He, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia have been told to follow in the footsteps of Marcus Rashford by finding a new club.
The 25-year-old winger has been linked with moves to Juventus, Fenerbahce and Borussia Dortmund, but a move is yet to materialise. His £300,000-a-week wages at United, where he is under contract until June 2026, have proven problematic in the market.
However, speculation has ramped up once more with the news that both Roma and Besiktas are actively pursuing a deal for Sancho. New Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini is keen on signing him, while former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants a reunion with him in Istanbul.
Besiktas has something that Roma doesn’t: an army of online supporters out to persuade Sancho to move to Turkey. His latest Instagram post, which shows photos of him relaxing on holiday has racked up over 5million comments, the vast majority of which simply read: “Come to Besiktas”.
And the club’s president Serdal Adali is willing to follow through with the fans’ wishes. “Just as much as the community wants him, I want him too,” he told Turkiye Today. “What matters is not only our desire, but also if the player wants to come to Turkey. We have a budget, and we will do our best to bring him here.
“Players like Jadon Sancho usually prefer clubs playing in the Champions League. Whether it happens today or not, it is hard to say. If it is possible, we will get him. Besiktas fans can rest assured.”
Sancho spent last season on loan with Chelsea, but the club turned down the opportunity to sign him permanently, deciding they would rather stump up a £5million fee than pay £25m for his services. He then agreed personal terms with Fenerbahce and Juventus, only for those deals to collapse and former United striker Teddy Sheringham is worried his career is on the downslide.
“Jadon Sancho will definitely not play for a big club ever again. He will probably tell you that he can and he will but not for me,” Sheringham told Snabbare. “I see that he's burned his bridges with the manager. He’s not even got a place in the changing room.
“Maybe if he’d be given another chance he could work for what Amorim wants but I know from experience once you've gone down that path of being unhappy and wanting out that it's very hard to turn it around with the manager, with the supporters, with the other players.
“You've got to show an unbelievable mental desire to turn that around. It can be done, and I know he's a talented lad, but I would be very, very surprised if that was the case now.”