INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to complete a deal to acquire a 25% stake in Manchester United in the coming week or so.
The consortium led by the 71-year-old is expected to take control of the sporting structure at the club, leaving the Glazer family to focus on business matters.
One of the immediate items that Ratcliffe will be addressing is the future of Jadon Sancho.
The forward has not featured in a first team squad since his public spat with manager Erik ten Hag over two months ago.
As reported by The Daily Star, Ratcliffe is keen to get the issue resolved and is set for talks with Ten Hag over the long-running saga.
After revealing he left Sancho out of the trip to Arsenal at the start of September due to a poor week’s training, the player vehemently denied the claims on social media and the pair have barely spoken since.
Sancho remains exiled from all first team activity and there have been reports he has even been removed from the player’s WhatsApp group.
The situation looks irreparable with the likely outcome being Sancho shifted to a new club in the upcoming January window, with Juventus monitoring the situation closely.
However, Ratcliffe is planning to propose a reconciliation between the pair and hopes Ten Hag could be willing to offer Sancho a route back into the fold.
Sancho’s value is plummeting by the week and finding a club that would be willing to pay anything close to what United paid for him and cover his monstrous wages is going to be difficult.
Sancho hasn’t hit the heights expected of him since his £72 million move from Dortmund in 2021 and to see him leave for a cut-price fee would be another black mark against United’s recruitment policy in recent years.
It remains to be seen whether Ten Hag is willing to offer a olive branch to a player he treated with a lot of sincerity last year only for the player to break his trust.
Sancho was granted extended leave during last season and was welcomed back by the Dutchman in what appeared to be a show of excellent man-management.
However, this season’s escapade has left the boss without a key player in a season United have been short on quality up front and could prove the final nail in the coffin for Sancho’s career at Old Trafford.