Jadon Sancho is in advanced talks to end his Manchester United exile and complete his Borussia Dortmund return over the weekend.
The 23-year-old winger is set to re-join the German club in a six-month loan spell, which will see United bank £3.5million in both fee and wages to complete the deal, but Dortmund are not expected to have an option to make the move permanent.
United signed the England international for £73m in 2021 but he is now persona non grata under Erik ten Hag.
Sancho is among the highest-paid players in the Premier League, earning a reported £350,000-a-week, but has not played for United since August after public criticism from his manager over his performances in training.
Sancho hit back at Ten Hag's “completely untrue” claims and said he has been a “scapegoat for a long time”.
Lawyers, agents and club officials were present at a round of peace talks in September, but a positive conclusion could not be reached. The apology Ten Hag requested has never arrived and Sancho was banished to train with the academy for five months.
United rejected loan offers from Dortmund and Steven Gerrard’s Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq over the summer and would only entertain a £65million permanent transfer for the attacker.
But they have since softened their stance to allow Sancho to re-join Dortmund on loan after watching his value plummet after being banished.
Talks remain ongoing and Sancho wants to join Dortmund by Sunday and link up with his new team-mates on their warm-weather camp in Marbella during the Bundesliga winter break as he starts to rebuild his career.
The 23-cap England forward has also not played for his country since he missed a penalty in the European Championships final in 2021 and is highly unlikely to make Gareth Southgate's squad this summer.
United have been beset by off-field issues this season and have just two wins in seven matches across a poor December.
The club hope to improve in the second half of the season, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking total control of football operations from the Glazers under the terms of his £1.03billion deal to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club.
The INEOS billionaire is awaiting Premier League approval for his partial takeover but must be informed of any activity at Old Trafford in the meantime as he plans to overhaul the club's disastrous transfer strategy.
Meanwhile, Dortmund are also in talks to sign defender Ian Maatsen from Chelsea but are struggling to meet the £30m asking price.
