Borussia Dortmund will be under very little pressure to sell Jadon Sancho in the summer should Manchester United attempt to drive their asking price down, according to Raphael Honigstein.
United have long been touted as the next destination for the 20-year-old, with 90min revealing in September that the Red Devils were confident of landing him in 2020.
The club were expected to break their transfer record - and possibly the £100m barrier - in order to bring Sancho to Old Trafford, but executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has since tempered expectations of lucrative summer spending as a result of the coronavirus.
At the beginning of May, 90min exclusively revealed that United were no longer prepared to pay £100m for Sancho, as they do not see the deal being worth the same amount due to the coronavirus outbreak. Dortmund are aware of this and would be prepared to listen to lower offers.
However, according to the Evening Standard, Dortmund are in a strong negotiating position, and will not be desperate to cash in on Sancho in order to raise funds.
+3 ? onto the next! @BVB pic.twitter.com/2oEfndFs3j
— Jadon Sancho (@Sanchooo10) February 29, 2020
Bundesliga football expert Honigstein admitted that although Dortmund's business model revolves around selling players and they did not make a big sale last summer, they will be under no pressure to cash in during such an unprecedented time.
Honigstein told the Standard: "There’s a view that I’ve seen reflected in some of the media coverage that Dortmund are desperate for cash and will sell, and the prices will come down, and United will be in a position to swoop – but I’m not sure that’s 100% accurate.
"There’s a bigger chance that Dortmund will say: 'You know what, the market is depressed.' If you have a lovely house to sell and you can’t sell it this summer, why would you?"
The only reason the Bundesliga outfit may feel the more pressure to sell is Sancho's contract.
The England winger's Dortmund deal expires in 2022, but Honigstein says the club can work around that by agreeing an extension, as they did with Christian Pulisic, in order to preserve his value.
The move is ultimately in United's hands and if they can 'get through this crisis relatively unscathed', then they would be in a healthy position to put in a bid that Dortmund cannot refuse.
Source : 90min