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Man Utd have active Wilfried Zaha transfer clause which could have solved Sancho problem
Manchester United sold Wilfried Zaha back to Crystal Palace in 2015 for a fee of just £3million.
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Manchester United still have a forgotten transfer clause active regarding former player Wilfried Zaha. The Ivorian international joined the Red Devils from Crystal Palace before returning to Selhurst Park in 2015.
The winger recently put his old club to the sword in United's Premier League opener at Old Trafford.
Zaha was on target twice for the Eagles who ran out 3-1 winners against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.
While his performance saw many United supporters query whether the club have a buyback clause, it was former manager Louis van Gaal who decided against the ploy five years ago.
Ed Woodward did in fact negotiate a 25 percent sell-on clause though, meaning United will net a significant chunk of any potential transfer fee in the future.
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The problem is, it now looks like United may miss out on a much-needed cash injection.
Last summer, there was interest from both Arsenal and Everton for Zaha and with Palace mindful of United's clause, the club demanded £70million.
Now it appears they have scared potential buyers off, despite dropping their price tag following the COVID-19 crisis.
Yesterday, United tabled their first official offer for Sancho which totalled around £90m.
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The offer was some £18m below Borussia Dortmund's £108m vacation of the player.
Money is more precious than ever this summer as clubs combat the financial implications of the COVID-19 crisis.
It now looks like Zaha will stay at Palace for another season and given he turns 28 in just over a month, time is running out to leave south London.
That extra injection of cash would have been welcomed by the United board this summer as they look to find a solution in their bid to sign Sancho.
Roy Hodgson has been left baffled that there has been no interest in Palace's star man in the past few months.
He said: "It is a little bit frustrating. It would be nice to have Wilf with us without this cloud that hangs over him - is he really going to stay with us or are we going to have to wave goodbye to him?"
"I am surprised that we do not get more people knocking on our door who are willing to pay a sensible price for him because I think he is such a good player.
“And I think he finds it frustrating sometimes that we are not having to turn down offers every single day from some of the top clubs in the country and the world because he thinks he has the ability to play there and I think so too."
Zaha wants to play Champions League football and he could be a smart alternative to Sancho, if United are priced out of a move.