Jadon Sancho has faced accusations of joining Chelsea “for the money” amid reports of unrest in the club’s dressing room.
The Manchester United loanee has made the move from Manchester to London on deadline day, with a loan deal that includes an obligation for the Blues to purchase him next summer.
The transfer fee is set to range between £20 million (€23 million) and £25 million (€29 million), depending on Chelsea’s Premier League finish.
After a challenging period at Old Trafford, Jadon Sancho was keen to rejuvenate his career, and he reportedly agreed to a significant salary reduction to join Chelsea.
However, doubts have been raised about the motivations behind his move.
Former Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit has suggested that Sancho’s decision might be influenced more by financial considerations than by a genuine desire to revive his football career at Stamford Bridge.
In an interview with BetVictor, Petit said: “The club are not the only one responsible for the situation, it also comes down to the players.
“How can Sancho bring himself to sign for Chelsea after what happened at Manchester United?
“He was loaned to Borussia Dortmund, then went back to United, and now he’s off to Chelsea who have 40 or so players and he is just one of them.
“Hasn’t he had enough of moving around clubs, losing his way on the pitch and losing his confidence?
“Now he’s at a club that has no consistency, lacking in confidence and results.
“If he’s not there for the money, what is he there for?”
In addition to critiquing Sancho’s decision, Petit expressed concerns about Chelsea’s overall transfer strategy.
He questioned how the club, under Todd Boehly’s leadership, could maintain any sense of unity or coherence within a squad that appears to be continually growing.
“I’m not sure how you can create unity between players who only think about themselves,” he said.
“We should rename the transfer window as ‘the Chelsea transfer market’.
“I just don’t get what Todd Boehly’s transfer policy is.
“When I saw they had signed Jadon Sancho on deadline day, I wondered if there was even any shirt numbers left for him.
“Imagine him opening the door to the dressing room and seeing so many players – they don’t all fit in the same dressing room!
“At the training ground, they must have two dressing rooms, three pitches and 12 physios.”
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