Manchester United are struggling to make progress in their efforts to offload Jadon Sancho due to the attacker’s hefty salary demands, according to a report.

The 25-year-old is due back at Old Trafford for pre-season after Chelsea paid a £5m penalty fee to get out of their obligation to sign him on a permanent deal for £25m.

Sancho did not exactly disappoint while on loan at the Blues, managing five goals and 10 assists from 41 matches in all tournaments and finding the back of the net in their 4-1 Conference League final win over Real Betis.

However, the former Borussia Dortmund man did not do enough to warrant a prolonged stay at Stamford Bridge, and as there is not thought to be any chance of a Man United revival, his career is at a crossroads yet again.

Sancho only has one year left to run on his deal with the Red Devils, who are therefore determined to find him a new stomping ground in order to recoup some of the £73m they shelled out for him in 2021.

Man United make ‘adamant’ Sancho call amid wage worries

The England international is earning a mammoth £250,000 per week at the Theatre of Dreams, though, and according to The Mirror such a large pay packet is proving prohibitive in Man United’s efforts to ship him out.

Italian giants Napoli and Juventus are thought to have expressed an interest in signing Sancho, while Real Betis are allegedly keen on a loan deal after Antony’s resurrection under Manuel Pellegrini.

However, all of those teams would need Man United to cough up a chunk of Sancho’s wages during a loan period, whereas the Red Devils are ‘adamant’ that they will only accept permanent offers in the current window.

Sancho is believed to be open to testing himself in Serie A, although some sort of compromise will have to be reached if either Napoli or Juventus are to complete a swoop in the coming weeks.

The 25-year-old has only managed a paltry 12 goals and six assists in 83 matches for the Red Devils across all competitions, and his last appearance for the club came in the 2024 Community Shield, where he missed a penalty in a shootout loss to Man City.

How might the Sancho saga play out?

At this stage, neither Napoli nor Juventus are thought to be interested in a permanent deal for Sancho, whom Man United are simply trying to sever ties with at all costs.

After being happy to accept £25m from Chelsea, it would not be a surprise to see the Red Devils lessen their demands to around £20m this time around, potentially making a deal more affordable for the Serie A duo.

Even then, though, Sancho would still need to sacrifice a portion of his wages to embark on a new adventure in Italy, although his apparent desire to join the Italian top flight means that scenario is not beyond the realm of possibility.