Why Borussia Dortmund can not sell Jadon Sancho at a discount

Jadon Sancho is still wearing a Borussia Dortmund kit. The club has maintained its €120 million price tag for the player. BVB needs to hold firm.

A few weeks back, I wrote a column from the perspective of Manchester United, suggesting that in their pursuit for Dortmund’s young star, Jadon Sancho, they should pay a maximum of €92 million.

In that same piece, I compared United’s primary protagonist, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, to Gary Kasparov and BVB’s sporting director, Michael Zorc, to Deep Blue, the chess supercomputer.

The chess match between the two clubs for the right to sign Sancho has continued to lurch agonizingly slowly towards a stalemate. So far, any negotiations have taken place between the pawns on the board: the typical intermediaries, middle people, and agents.

Der BVB set an August 10th deadline for any transfer of the 20-year-old to take place.

That deadline came and went.

Dortmund followed up with a trolling campaign, part Russian-style propaganda, part poking the bear (or Red Devil) by putting up a post on social media of a smiling happy Jadon, in fresh yellow training kit with the caption: “Love to see it!”

Then Michael Zorc checked Ed Woodward with a bold strike.

The shrewd sporting director announced, on August 10th, that the Englishman’s contract had been “secretly” extended to June 2023, adding: “He will play with us next season. The decision is definite. I think that answers all questions.”

Checkmate?