Dortmund chief explains Jadon Sancho benching amid claims his ‘head is already at Man Utd’

Borussia Dortmund chief Michael Zorc has played down suggestions that Jadon Sancho was too distracted by the transfer speculation surrounding his future to start against RB Leipzig.

The England international, who has been heavily linked with a summer move to Manchester United, surprisingly only made the bench for Saturday’s clash with two youngsters – Matei Morey and Giovanni Reyna – starting ahead of him.

It was suggested that Sancho is no longer focused on finishing out the Bundesliga season, with just one game left against Hoffenheim next weekend, and ‘his head’ is already at Old Trafford.

Sporting director Zorc did little to quell those fears on the eve of the game, telling Ruhr Nachrichten on Friday: ‘It is clear that we are concerned. But I don’t want to talk about that now.’

Just a few weeks ago the German had been ‘relaxed’ about Sancho’s future, though he played down any notion that the 20-year-old was left out of the latest starting XI due to a looming transfer and says he was simply tired having started the last four matches on the spin.

Asked why Sancho had not started, Zorc told Sport1: ‘We have had many injuries in the past few weeks and have not been able to rotate like other teams.

‘Jadon is completely tired and told the coach before the game that he had no energy to play 90 minutes. You saw that in the game.’

Speculation surrounding Sancho’s future will inevitably reignite once the Bundesliga season is over, with United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer eager to bring in a new winger this summer.

Sancho ticks all the boxes – young, enormous potential and British – but Dortmund are prepared to hold out for a massive fee, with United likely needing to break their transfer record to land their top target.

The youngster’s form has tailed off in the last few games, though he has nevertheless netted 17 goals and laid on a further 17 assists in just 31 Bundesliga appearances this season – though a £100m fee may be beyond even United in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Sancho is believed to be keen on a return to the Premier League and United are not the only side who are trying to prise him away from Dortmund, with Chelsea, Liverpool and old club Manchester City also all linked with the precocious winger.

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