Manchester United are facing the ultimate embarrassment this summer after wasting £138million on one player. United take on Aston Villa this Sunday and Jadon Sancho will be forced to watch from the stands, or from home, as his team-mates face his parent club in the Premier League. Sancho is on loan at Villa Park from United but has only made seven league starts, having had a similarly tough spell on loan at Chelsea last term.

United splashed out £73million on Sancho in 2021 and he arrived as one of the most exciting forwards in Europe. The England international had been tearing it up at Borussia Dortmund in Germany’s Bundesliga with 48 goals and 62 assists in 134 appearances. But he has never once come close to repeating such productivity back in his home country. And it has emerged, thanks to his five-year contract worth £250,000 a week, that United will have spent £138m on the player come the summer, when his deal expires.

United made some money back here and there thanks to the loan fees paid by Dortmund, Chelsea and Villa, while each club also paid differing portions of his wages. But since signing Sancho, he has made more appearances for his loan clubs than for the Red Devils.

And he’s had more goal contributions away from Old Trafford too. Sancho will leave United with 83 appearances, which yielded 12 goals and six assists. Whereas away from the club, he’s managed nine goals and 14 assists in 90 games. The Daily Mail say his failed United career has cost the Premier League giants £138m.

The major embarrassment, though, is that United will not recoup any money on a winger who will only be 26 at the end of the season. That’s because his contract expires in July and INEOS will not be extending it in an effort to sell him for a transfer fee.

Instead, United are ready to part ways to avoid paying his wages – even if only a slice of them – next season. They believe they are unlikely to find a permanent buyer this summer.

It is unclear where Sancho will head next, though a third return to Dortmund would surely appeal to the Englishman. His unsuccessful stints at Chelsea and Villa suggest few Premier League clubs will be pitching to the free agent attacker.

But Dortmund are losing Julian Brandt on a free transfer this summer so perhaps Germany beckons once more for Sancho. Speaking recently, the winger declared that he is happy at Villa. “When you have a manager that back to you, you go into training with a lot more confidence, and obviously matchdays,” Sancho said. “So, I’m just happy that I’m playing, and hopefully I can help the team throughout the season.”

Another English forward expected to leave United this summer is Marcus Rashford. The World Cup hopeful is on loan at Barcelona where he has managed 10 goals and 13 assists in 38 games although he has served as a back-up option in recent months.

Rashford wants to stay at Barca but the Catalan club are eager to reduce the fee they would have to pay the Red Devils for him, which stands at approximately £26m. If United do not agree to a lower fee, Barca could look elsewhere.