Ineos have wasted no time making their mark at Manchester United and that includes a very busy first summer transfer window.
The new owners at Old Trafford made several sweeping changes behind the scenes after their takeover in January which included putting together a new-look recruitment team headed by Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox.
When the summer window rolled around, Manchester United and Ineos were quick to act and ended up making five major signings to Erik ten Hag‘s squad.
However, there was also a big focus on outgoings with United raising close to £90m in sales. Mason Greenwood’s £23m move to Marseille and Scott McTominay’s £25m sale to Napoli both feature in Manchester United’s biggest transfer sales of all time.
That sales figure also doesn’t include Jadon Sancho’s deadline day move to Chelsea because the 24-year-old joined the Blues on an initial loan with an obligation to buy for around £23m next summer.
Ineos warned about Jadon Sancho deal
There was so much excitement around Jadon Sancho after he completed a £73m in 2021 but it simply didn’t work out for him at Old Trafford.
He struggled to replicate the form he had shown at Borussia Dortmund and eventually Sancho fell out with Ten Hag over lack of game time.
After loaning him back to Dortmund last season, United eventually found a new home for Sancho in Chelsea – who initially wanted to include Raheem Sterling as part of a deal.
However, former England goalkeeper David James has now warned that Ineos could look “pretty foolish” for allowing Sancho to leave.
As quoted by The Mirror, James said: “My signing of the window has to be Chelsea’s capture of Sancho.
“He had a good debut against Bournemouth – looked really lively, and there’s no doubt that there is a player in there.
“He’s shown what he’s all about at his two spells with Dortmund. There was something about him at United which, for whatever reason, obviously didn’t work.
“That can happen with players, particularly young ones, sometimes moves just don’t work out. His second spell at Dortmund re-energised him. It gave him the belief that he can operate at the highest level after his confidence was knocked at United.
“He’s going to get lots of opportunities to showcase his talent at Chelsea this season. I think it’s a great signing and a new environment could be exactly what he needs to start demonstrating that he is one of the best attacking players in the Premier League.
“In many ways, it’s similar to Cole Palmer. Chelsea are going to give him a platform to express himself. If he can follow in Palmer’s footsteps, then it’s a fantastic piece of business and one that could leave United looking pretty foolish indeed, especially if they keep on struggling.”
Man United should have no regrets over Jadon Sancho exit
Even if Sancho turns out to be a success at Chelsea, there should be no regrets about him leaving from United’s perspective.
He was given plenty of chances to impress but failed to live up to expectations and the attitude he showed when publicly criticising Ten Hag is something United could do without.
READ MORE: Jadon Sancho received surprise six-word message from one Man Utd star after impact on Chelsea debut
With the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo – United have plenty of better options out wide anyway.
If anything, Sancho’s exit has allowed Amad a chance to shine in the first team. He has taken that opportunity with both hands and Sancho has already been forgotten about at Old Trafford.
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