Borussia Dortmund will not sell Manchester United target Jadon Sancho "below value" amid the financial impacts of the coronavirus crisis, BVB chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has told Bild.
Sources have told ESPN that United are leading the race for England winger Sancho, 20, but could still face competition from Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea. Dortmund are holding out for a transfer fee in the €130 million range and hope a bidding war will unfold.
As Dortmund brace for Sancho's departure after three hugely impressive years at the Westfalenstadion, the Bundesliga side have no plans to cut any deals as economic pressure mounts on football clubs due to the worldwide pandemic.
"I can clearly say that despite the existential crisis [for football] even the richest clubs don't have to believe they can go bargain hunting at Dortmund," Watzke said. "We must not sell anyone below value."
And Dortmund have not given up all hope that Sancho will remain at the club for one more season, with Watzke adding: "We've said it before corona already that we favour the idea Jadon stays here. But, at the end of the day, you also must respect what the player wants."
Dortmund have relied on refining young talents and selling them to European top clubs in recent years in their effort to avoid the financial gap to the continent's super clubs from growing wider.
The German club could be affected more than others by a collapsing transfer market. However, Watzke has said he believes that football's biggest talents will still command large sums.
"I believe that the transfer market will significantly drop. In spite of that there will still be a few big transfers," he added.
