Damaging impact of Man Utd transfer saga denied by Southgate
Jadon Sancho has not been distracted by his transfer to Manchester United, according to Gareth Southgate, who is expected to start him for England on Saturday night.
The 21-year-old is set to complete his £73million switch from Borussia Dortmund to Old Trafford after the European Championship. He will sign a five-year deal with the option of a further season. The clubs confirmed an agreement had been reached on Thursday, just as preparations were stepping up ahead of England’s crunch quarter-final against Ukraine in Rome.
But Southgate says such discussions have not been a problem for the Three Lions or the winger. As such, he is ready for his first start of Euro 2020.
Asked if it has been a distraction, the England boss told ITV: “No, in fact I think Jadon over the last seven days has trained at the best level in the time with us.
“You accept there are lots of ongoing transfer situations and nobody is coming in for talks, nobody is going out for talks, but we can’t stop people’s phones ringing, we can’t stop business happening outside of that.
“You have to just trust the players and I think they’re all very focused.
“I haven’t really had a long discussion with him about it at this moment because that story has been going for 12 months, really.
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“When everything is sort of confirmed, I’m sure I’ll have a chat with him.
“There’s so much speculation about all of our players that I don’t pick up every little individual piece. But of course I’m checking in with the players every day and seeing how they are.
“The biggest thing is he has been very focused in his training and that’s been good.”
Maguire gives verdict on Sancho deal
Someone else who backed up how well Sancho has been training for England is his soon-to-be clubmate Harry Maguire.
The United captain said: “When he does sign, I’m sure he’s going to have a great career for United and be a big part of us being successful in the future.
“Jadon’s a top player. He has great experience in these big games. We’ve obviously got some exceptional talent in his position in this team.
“We’ve got some exceptional talent in his position in this England team so Jadon will bide his time, be patient and be ready when his opportunity comes.
“I’ve been really impressed with the way he has been working in training. He’s really putting a shift in day in day out.
“He has some great talent. He is scoring goals in the five-a-sides and so on. He’s a great lad.”
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