Former Manchester United player Clayton Blackmore claims he could have saved the club £72m by signing Jadon Sancho for as little as £100,000 when he was a 16-year-old Manchester City player.
Sancho joined City from Watford's academy for around £500,000 in 2015, before working his way through the City Football Academy and leaving for Borussia Dortmund in search of first team progression in 2017 for around £8m.
After shining in the Bundesliga and earning his international debut with England, Sancho joined United in the summer for £72.9m — with City earning around £10m of that fee as part of a sell-on clause included in the deal to sell him to Dortmund.
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Sancho started slowly at United, but has been one of their brightest performers in recent weeks and will be looking to guide his side to victory at the Etihad on Sunday in the Manchester Derby. However, if things had worked out differently, Blackmore claims Sancho could have been a United player for at least five years, as he revealed he recommended the youngster to the Old Trafford club — but nobody would 'stick their neck out.'
Speaking on the Undr The Cosh podcast, Blackmore said: "I've been at the club at United in the academy, and I remember saying we need to get Sancho when he was 16. Nobody would stick their neck out and go 'okay'.
"I just watched him terrorise us in an under-16s game and then he went to Dortmund. Nobody was willing to stick their neck out and get him now. What did we pay for him now? £60m?"
Discussing Sancho's promise as a teenager, Blackmore continued: "It was 500k from Watford for City. But City had him in an u16 age group with their own coach, own physio, everything they needed was for that age group, same with the under 18s and under 23s.
"I'd watched their under-18s and under-23s and he was better than any of the players in those teams and he was stuck in the under-16s. That's why he left."
And the former Welsh international, who made 186 appearances for United between 1982 and 1994, said he feels United could have signed Sancho for as little as £100,000 at the time of his recommendation.
He said: "I'd have gone [for] 100 grand. It's easy to say now because he's done really well."
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