Roma make bid and expected Man Utd response emerges

Roma have tabled an official bid to sign Jadon Sancho and a report has revealed what Manchester United’s expected response will be.

Sancho is among five players who were told at the conclusion of last season they have no future at Man Utd. The others were Tyrell Malacia, Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Antony.

Rashford has joined Barcelona on loan, Garnacho has agreed personal terms with Chelsea, and Real Betis want to re-sign Antony to another loan.

Malacia is not close to departing and despite plentiful interest from European heavyweights, Sancho is still entrenched at Old Trafford too.

But according to the latest from The Times, Man Utd have now received an official bid from Roma.

They stated the Serie A giant have offered to loan Sancho for the full 2025/26 campaign. Whether an option or obligation to buy has been included in the proposal was not made clear.

In any case, what is clear is Man Utd heavily favour a permanent sale, not least because Sancho’s contract expires at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

The report stated: ‘United would prefer to sell Sancho permanently as he has one year left on his contract.’

As such, the expectation is United will either reject the bid or try to convince Roma to alter the terms put forward.

One option open to Man Utd is begrudgingly accepting a loan and attempting to sell Sancho once again in 2026.

Sancho’s current contract expires next summer but United hold an option for an extra season. That strategy would only work if Man Utd triggered the extra year and given Sancho earns around £250,000-a-week, it would ‘represent something of a gamble’, per the report.

Roma are also in talks with Aston Villa for the signing of Leon Bailey. The Times stressed Roma want to sign both Sancho and Bailey and it’s not a case of one or the other.

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GO DEEPER: Why Roma want Sancho and where he’d fit in

By Samuel Bannister

A move abroad has always been under consideration for Sancho after he was returned to Manchester United following his loan spell with Chelsea.

Most of his best football in his career so far came in Europe, when he played for Borussia Dortmund. But how would he fare in Italy?

After links with the likes of Juventus, Roma have emerged as contenders for Sancho’s signature. If he went there and performed like their last two signings from United – Nemanja Matic and Chris Smalling – they’d be happy.

As they embark on a new era with Gian Piero Gasperini as head coach, Roma will be building from a 3-4-2-1 formation this season.

It’s a similar setup to what they’ve used in recent seasons, which has led to them reducing their number of wingers in favour of attacking midfielders who tuck inside rather than playing too far towards the touchline.

They now want to mix up what they have behind the striker, looking for an increase in pace – which has prompted them to open talks for Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey – and goal contributions.

While they began their Bailey pursuit first, the Jamaica international is a left-footed winger, and Roma have been prioritising a right-footed winger all summer, given they already have Paulo Dybala, Matias Soule and Tommaso Baldanzi, compared to the ageing Stephan El Shaarawy as a right-footer.

Sancho is right-footed, so could fill the left-sided no.10 role where there’s a major vacancy. He has also expressed a preference for playing infield before, so could fit in nicely with a system still reliant on hybrid attacking midfielders/wingers.

The main concern for Roma would be whether his salary would be sustainable, but tactically, there does seem to be a place for him in their evolution.

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