Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund (Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Jadon Sancho is still wearing a Borussia Dortmund kit. The club has maintained its €120 million price tag for the player. BVB needs to hold firm.
A few weeks back, I wrote a column from the perspective of Manchester United, suggesting that in their pursuit for Dortmund’s young star, Jadon Sancho, they should pay a maximum of €92 million.
In that same piece, I compared United’s primary protagonist, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, to Gary Kasparov and BVB’s sporting director, Michael Zorc, to Deep Blue, the chess supercomputer.
The chess match between the two clubs for the right to sign Sancho has continued to lurch agonizingly slowly towards a stalemate. So far, any negotiations have taken place between the pawns on the board: the typical intermediaries, middle people, and agents.
Der BVB set an August 10th deadline for any transfer of the 20-year-old to take place.
That deadline came and went.
Dortmund followed up with a trolling campaign, part Russian-style propaganda, part poking the bear (or Red Devil) by putting up a post on social media of a smiling happy Jadon, in fresh yellow training kit with the caption: “Love to see it!”
Then Michael Zorc checked Ed Woodward with a bold strike.
The shrewd sporting director announced, on August 10th, that the Englishman’s contract had been “secretly” extended to June 2023, adding: “He will play with us next season. The decision is definite. I think that answers all questions.”
Checkmate?
Jadon Sancho</a> is still wearing a Borussia Dortmund kit. The club has maintained its €120 million price tag for the player. BVB needs to hold firm.</h2>
<p>A few weeks back, I wrote a <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/09/manchester-united-not-jadon-sancho/">column from the perspective of Manchester United, suggesting that in their pursuit for Dortmund’s young star, Jadon Sancho, they should pay a maximum of €92 million.</p>
<p>In that same piece, I compared United’s primary protagonist, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, to Gary Kasparov and BVB’s sporting director, Michael Zorc, to Deep Blue, the chess supercomputer.</p>
<p>The chess match between the two clubs for the right to sign Sancho has continued to lurch agonizingly slowly towards a stalemate. So far, any negotiations have taken place between the pawns on the board: the typical intermediaries, middle people, and agents.</p>
<p><em>Der BVB</em> set an August 10th deadline for any transfer of the 20-year-old to take place.</p>
<p>That deadline came and went.</p>
<p>Dortmund followed up with a trolling campaign, part Russian-style propaganda, part poking the bear (or Red Devil) by putting up a <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://www.instagram.com/p/CDuT4xsBeB-/">post on social media</a> of a smiling happy Jadon, in fresh yellow training kit with the caption: “Love to see it!”</p>
<p>Then Michael Zorc checked Ed Woodward with a bold strike.</p>
<p>The shrewd sporting director <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://www.transfermarkt.us/watzke-sancho-will-stay-quot-definitely-means-definitely-for-a-wesphalian-quot-/view/news/367787">announced, on August 10th, that the Englishman’s contract had been “secretly” extended to June 2023, adding: “He will play with us next season. The decision is definite. I think that answers all questions.”</p>
<p>Checkmate?</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Borussia Dortmund can not compromise on Jadon Sancho </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-484035 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1974,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1228069413.jpeg" alt="Borussia Dortmund" width="1600" height="1974" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1228069413.jpeg 1600w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1228069413-768x948.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Jude Bellingham of Dortmund (Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Dortmund has no replacements for Jadon Sancho.</h2>
<p>One reason that Borussia Dortmund needs to maintain its high asking price for Jadon Sancho is that there are no adequate immediate replacements for him.</p>
<p>The 20-year old plays on the right-wing. Marius Wolf, who has returned from his loan spell at Hertha Berlin, is the only other player on the roster who is a natural right-winger.</p>
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<p>27-year old Thorgan Hazard can play on the right; however, his natural position is on the left.</p>
<p><em>Die Borussen</em> have brought in Jude Bellingham, Reinier, Thomas Meunier, and completed the purchase of Emre Can in recent weeks.</p>
<p>They have also added starlet 15-year old Youssoufa Moukoko and 19-year old Immanuel Pherai from their U19 squad.</p>
<p>These moves bolstered the club’s mid-field and center-forward positions, which was a desperate area of need. Yet, none of these players are Sancho replacements.</p>
<p>Jadon Sancho was arguably the best player in the <em>Bundesliga</em> this past season. He knocked in 17 goals and added 16 assists in league play. The England international was one of three top-flight German players to have ten or more goals and assists.</p>
<p>There are no replacements for Jadon on the Dortmund roster, and there are no reasonable options in the transfer market that the club can afford that will match the 20-year old’s productivity.</p>
<p>The talent gap between Bayern Munich and BVB is already significant, without Jadon that gap expands faster than my waistline during the holidays.</p>
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<h2>Dortmund’s biggest reason they must keep their asking price for Sancho is financial.</h2>
<p>Hans-Joachim Watzke is an imposing and uncompromisingly direct figure. The 61-year old is the CEO of Borussia Dortmund, a position he has held since 2006 at the end of the club’s financial crisis.</p>
<p>On August 17th, he provided preliminary details on the <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/borussia-dortmund-2019-20-revenue-profit-loss-covid-19">club’s financial position</a> at the end of the fiscal year that ended in June. A year, which had been marred by the pandemic that shuttered the gates of the <em>Westfalenstadion</em> for months.</p>
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<p>The news was grim.</p>
<p>The club announced that there had been a sales growth of 6.3% in the first three quarters from the previous period the year before. However, due to the global shutdown of football, sales had collapsed by 25% in the last quarter of the prior year.</p>
<p>Watzke provided the clearest blow reporting that Borussia Dortmund had lost €44 million during the past fiscal year.</p>
<p>Per BVB’s August 17th <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://aktie.bvb.de/eng/IR-News/Ad-Hoc-News/Borussia-Dortmund-discloses-preliminary-figures-for-the-2019-2020-financial-year">press release</a>, <em>Die Borussen</em> saw revenue from gaming operations fall from €44.7 million in 2018-19 to €32.5 million in 2019-20. The club also saw the profit from transfer transactions fall from €82.9 million to €40.2 million this fiscal year.</p>
<p>While revenues and profits from matches and transfers went down significantly, the report reveals that personnel expenses and depreciation costs went up by €10.1 million and €13.6 million, respectively.</p>
<p>The losses this past fiscal year may not be a fatal blow for Dortmund, who has managed their resources well over the years, but it is a staggering blow.</p>
<p>In the minds of Watzke and Zorc, Jadon Sancho is their most significant asset, and they need to get as much cash as possible for him in any transfer deal. Like, maybe €120 million.</p>
<p>The Dortmund CEO made it clear on August 13th by <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/23/borussia-dortmund-jadon-sancho-discount/"https://www.transfermarkt.us/watzke-sancho-will-stay-quot-definitely-means-definitely-for-a-wesphalian-quot-/view/news/367787">stating: “We are Westphalians, and we agreed on the way Michael Zorc communicated the decision on Monday. You can be certain, definitely means for Westphalians definitely. Jadon Sancho will play for Borussia Dortmund in 2020-21. There is no room for interpretation.”</p>
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<p>For Borussia Dortmund, there is also no room for compromise or negotiation for their superstar, Jadon Sancho. Its €120 million or nothing.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">