Paris Saint-Germain have won the race to sign French starlet Desire Doue and the move is likely to “end their pursuit” of Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho.
Doue, 19, emerged as one of the hottest prospects on the market this summer with a host of Europe’s elite clubs expressing an interest in the Stade Rennais academy graduate, including United. A report relayed byThe Peoples Personin May revealed Old Trafford executives had “initiated contacts” with the Ligue 1 side over a potential move for Doue following extensive scouting by the recruitment department.
However, there was little progress on United’s pursuit of the French midfielder beyond these initial reports, with the primary focus at Old Trafford being from a defensive perspective, rather than an attacking one, outside of the deal to sign Joshua Zirzkee from Bologna.
Instead, it was two of the continent’s heavyweights – PSG and Bayern Munich – who quickly emerged at the front of the queue for Doue, with both teams seeing the 19-year-old as a key target for their squad overhauls this summer.
Initially, it had appeared Bayern were in the driving seat so sign Doue. The German club have already signed Michael Olise to play on their right-wing and wanted to replicate the Doue-Olise partnership which had helped the French national team light up the Olympics this past month.
In light of this, PSG were reported to being considering alternatives should their pursuit of Doue be unsuccessful; with one target being Sancho. And, as explained in greater detail here, PSG initiated talks with the United winger’s representatives, reaching an “agreement in principle” over a move.
United were open to selling the 24-year-old, but only at a set price. If this threshold was not met, the club were content to keep Sancho in Ten Hag’s squad this season following the successful mending of the pair’s broken relationship.
The transfer budget at Old Trafford has been an issue this summer, however, with United needing to sell players in order to fund further recruitment. If Sancho could have been sold for a significant fee – in the region of £40 million or more – it would have been a big boost to the club’s ability to sign a new midfielder or forward, as an example.
There was also significant interest from United in PSG midfielder Manuel Ugarte but the French champion’s valuation has, so far, proved too costly for a deal to be agreed to sign the Uruguay international. A potential swap deal involving Sancho could have been one option which may have helped circumvent these issues over the transfer fee.
Which is why this latest update that PSG have trumped Bayern to agree a deal with Stade Rennais to sign Doue, as revealed by Fabrizio Romano, will come as a blow to the Red Devils.
Not only is an elite talent they have been tracking for many months no longer on the market, his signing will also be likely to prevent his new club from pursuing a deal to sign Sancho.
🔴🔵 Désiré Doué will become new Paris Saint-Germain player, no doubts after decision made yesterday night.
Bayern are already out of the race as they never got any agreement or final green light.
PSG will get formal steps done. pic.twitter.com/5VE9CwEC2c
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2024
Tweet: “Désiré Doué will become new Paris Saint-Germain player, no doubts after decision made yesterday night. Bayern are already out of the race as they never got any agreement or final green light. PSG will get formal steps done.”
The saving grace from the deal for Doue is it will further increase the pressure on PSG to sell Ugarte following two blockbuster transfers (Doue and Joao Neves) with the French club likely to be needing sales to help balance the books.
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Désiré DouéJadon SanchoParis Saint-Germain
Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
