- Crystal Palace tipped to swoop for Jadon Sancho
- English winger leaving Man Utd
- Alan Pardew backs the move
Alan Pardew reckons Crystal Palace is an ideal destination for Jadon Sancho after leaving Manchester United. The English winger will become a free agent on June 30th.
Sancho endured a nightmare spell at Old Trafford, failing to justify the £73m United paid Borussia Dortmund for his services. He also caused issues behind the scenes, clashing with former manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag exiled the 26-year-old from the Red Devils’ squad back in 2023. He then spent spells on loan at Dortmund, Chelsea and, this past season, Aston Villa.
Sancho to Palace?
There’s no indication that Villa will look to sign Sancho permanently. But he is available on a free transfer, and Pardew thinks Palace could be the type of club that comes in for him.
The former Eagles boss spoke to talkSPORT about the winger:
“He hasn’t really done enough to warrant a massive, massive contract like he was on at Man United, but he’ll get a good move. When you get to the end of the season, it is an opportunity. You have to make some really tough calls on who to renegotiate with because obviously there’s a value to the football club.”
Pardew doesn’t think a big six club will be eyeing Sancho and expects him to instead make a switch to a club like Palace:
“I think that will be the kind of club that he’ll go to. That mid-section of the Premier League. I don’t think he’s going to get a move to one of the top six clubs.”
Sancho managed 12 goals and six assists in 83 games across competitions at United. He put his name up lights at Dortmund and performed relatively well under Unai Emery at Villa Park this season.
Any decision over potentially swooping for the Englishman will be down to management. Pierre Sage is set to succeed Oliver Glasner and will have a big say in recruitment.
Not worth it
Palace don’t really need to focus on a new winger, and definitely not one who could cause problems in the dressing room. The Eagles were so successful under Glasner largely because of a positive environment.
Sancho is a talented player who many envisioned becoming one of the world’s best attacking gems. But question marks over his professionalism can’t be ignored.
Palace already have an equally if not more exciting attacker on the left. Yeremy Pino has shown huge signs of promise, especially in the second half of the season.
There’s a good chance the club will swoop for Evann Guessand, who spent the second half of the season on loan at Selhurst Park from Villa. Sancho, though, will be available on a free transfer, which does appeal.
