Back pages: Man Utd and Chelsea scrap for £120m Jadon Sancho

Sancho scrap

The future of Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho is the hot topic in a number of tabloids this morning with the lack of domestic football action because of the winter break clearly beginning to bite in the newsroom.

The Daily Star, Daily Mirror and Daily Express all devote some of their back pages to whether Sancho will leave Germany at the end of this season and return to England.

The consensus is “yes”, but will the teenage sensation choose Chelsea or Manchester United?

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The Mirror says that United are “confident” of winning the race to land Sancho in what the paper claims will be a £120m transfer tussle as Ed Woodward looks to quell rising anger among the Old Trafford faithful at the club’s declining fortunes.

But the Daily Star takes a different view, stating that Chelsea are in pole position to snap up the 19-year-old as they look to bring in a replacement for Willian, who is expected to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Apparently Sancho has a “soft spot” for the Blues and would favour a move to London. The Star says the fee would be in the region of £118m.

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Bye bye Bairstow

The other story dominating the papers is the omission of Jonny Bairstow from England’s Test cricket squad for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka.

Bairstow, one of the stars of England’s World Cup triumph last summer, has been in dreadful form ever since, and there is speculation in Metro and the Daily Express that his axing could signal the end of his Test career.

“Jonny be gone” is the headline in The Sun, which says that although he has been officially “rested”, the truth is that his waning powers have cost him his place in the squad.

In his stead comes wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes while there is a return for opener Keaton Jennings, who has struggled for consistency in previous outings but wins his place because of his reputation against spin.

James Anderson, England’s leading Test wicket-taker, was not considered for selection as he recovers from a cracked rib suffered in the 3-1 series win in South Africa last month.

Today’s sport headlines

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