What the papers say

Chelsea will have to pay more than £100million if they want to sign 19-year-old Irish striker Evan Ferguson as Brighton resist letting go of the teenager, the Evening Standard says. Ferguson has signed a deal with Brighton until 2029 after a promising start to his career, including scoring six goals for the club this season.

Everton have slapped a £60million fee on 22-year-old midfielder Amadou Onana, and i sport reports that Arsenal, who are interested in the Belgian, will have to sell a player to afford him.

Fulham, Everton and clubs overseas are said to be interested in Brentford’s 26-year-old midfielder Frank Onyeka, the Guardian reports.

The Times says West Ham are interested in Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez, who Feyenoord value at £30million. The 22-year-old has scored 18 goals in 16 Eredivisie games this season.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Jack Clarke: Football London reports West Ham and Crystal Palace are interested in Sunderland’s 23-year-old forward who is valued at around £20million.

Victor Osimhen: Senior figures at Real Madrid believe the club should sign the 25-year-old Napoli striker instead of Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, according to Football Transfers.

Sergio Aguero became the Premier League’s leading foreign goalscorer by hitting a hat-trick in Manchester City’s 6-1 thrashing of Aston Villa on this day in 2020.

The Argentina striker surpassed Frenchman Thierry Henry as the competition’s top overseas marksman at Villa Park after taking his tally to 177 goals in 255 matches.

Aguero also claimed the record of the most hat-tricks in the league’s history, with his 12th treble seeing him move past former Blackburn and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer.

“I’m so happy for the record,” said the then 31-year-old, who joined City from Atletico Madrid in 2011.

“But I thank my team-mates because they helped me this year. I’m so happy.

“I want to keep scoring more goals, but it all depends on my team-mates. If they pass to me, then it’s fine.”

Aguero went on to score 184 Premier League goals for City, placing him fifth on the all-time list, before moving to Barcelona in 2021.

He held the record for the most Premier League goals scored for a single club until it was overtaken by former Tottenham captain Harry Kane.

City boss Pep Guardiola said of Aguero: “He will die scoring goals. He is one of the best, no doubt. The best is (Lionel) Messi but the rest? Sergio is absolutely one of them.

“It’s an honour to be here the day he achieved that.

“There are players through the incredible history of English football and he is one of them, he helps to make the Premier League and English football better.”

Arkadiusz Milik scored a hat-trick as Juventus swept aside Frosinone 4-0 to book their place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

Massimiliano Allegri celebrated his 400th game as Bianconeri coach and handed a start to Turkish teenager Kenan Yildiz alongside Milik in attack, with Dusan Vlahovic on the bench after battling illness.

Juve took an early lead in the 11th minute through a penalty from Milik.

Fabio Miretti weaved into the Frosinone area and was sandwiched between two defenders, with Pol Lirola tripping him as he slid in from behind.

Following a VAR review, the spot-kick stood and Milik coolly sent goalkeeper Michele Cerofolini the wrong way.

Miretti continued to be a threat down the left and saw his cutback blocked before Filip Kostic’s effort from the rebound was hacked clear.

Juve went 2-0 up in the 38th minute through a swift counter-attack, which was started and finished by Milik.

The Poland striker played a deep diagonal ball out to the left to Weston McKennie from just inside his own half before then sprinting on down the right.

The American held up possession before clipping an angled pass back through the penalty box, where Milik arrived at the far post to sweep the ball past Cerofolini.

The Frosinone keeper saved from Timothy Weah’s drive towards the end of the half as Juve looked to put the tie to bed ahead of the break.

Milik completed his hat-trick three minutes into the second half when Frosinone were caught playing out from the back and Manuel Locatelli squared for the Poland striker to tap in.

Milik, who went into the game having not scored since early October, thought he had a fourth just before the hour when he flicked in a low cross after a corner had not been cleared, but the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

It was soon 4-0, though, as 18-year-old Yildiz acrobatically volleyed in another brilliant deep cross from McKennie out on the right.

Frosinone, who had pulled off a 4-0 win over Napoli in the last round, eventually caused some concern in the Juve penalty area when substitute Enzo Barrenechea glanced a header from a corner straight at keeper Mattia Perin.

Juve substitute Hans Nicolussi Caviglia sent a long-range effort over the crossbar before Cerofolini saved from Andrea Cambiaso after a surging run.

Yildiz was given a breather for the closing stages, with Belgian teenager Joseph Nonge Boende coming on, as Allegri’s side marched through to a two-legged semi-final against Lazio.

Second-half goals from Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal for Barcelona set up an El Clasico against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.

The Polish striker netted just before the hour and then Yamal grabbed in time added on to ensure Barca deservedly beat Osasuna 2-0 in the semi-final.

They will now meet their fierce rivals, who beat Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, in Sunday’s final in Riyadh, bidding to win a 15th Super Cup.

Barca were on top from the start and could have had the game in the bag in the first 20 minutes, but they came up against a human wall in the shape of Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.

Herrera kept out Andreas Christensen’s volley from a corner, got down well to stop a Lewandowski effort and then tipped over Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick.

The one time he was beaten, Ferran Torres was just inches off target after Barca had won the ball back in a dangerous position.

The first-half chances kept coming as Sergi Roberto missed his kick from a golden position before Lewandowski put another header over.

Barca goalkeeper Inaki Pena had to make a save of his own to keep out Ante Budimir’s close-range effort and then Raphina limped off injured in the lead up to half-time.

Xavi’s men were back on the front foot in the second half and got their reward in the 59th minute.

Christensen regained possession before Gundogan picked out Lewandowski, who found the bottom corner for his 11th goal of the season.

Joao Felix could have made the game safe soon after but was the latest player to be denied by Herrera, who kept out the Portugal international’s curling effort.

Instead, Barcelona’s lead remained vulnerable and Pena had to pull off another good save to deny Budimir in the 77th minute, while Raul García volleyed over the bar.

They finally killed the game in the third minute of time added on as Yamal struck through Herrera after Felix’s mazy run.

Tottenham have completed the signing of centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa in a move which has paved the way for Eric Dier to join Bayern Munich.

Romania international Dragusin has put pen to paper on a six-and-a-half-year deal at Spurs and is the club’s second addition of the January transfer window after Timo Werner’s arrival on loan on Tuesday.

A centre-back was always Ange Postecoglou’s number-one priority this month and Tottenham have secured the services of Dragusin in a deal that could rise to £25million, the PA news agency understands.

The 21-year-old has signed in time so that he could make his debut at Manchester United on Sunday and marks another shift in tactic by the club from their previously adopted transfer strategy.

Spurs have notoriously waited until the end of January to complete their winter business, signing both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur on the final day of the window in 2022 and securing the services of Pedro Porro with minutes to spare last year.

Postecoglou publicly made clear his desire to sign another centre-back and to crucially bring in recruits early to enable them to get up to speed with his style of football as quickly as possible.

The Australian has got his wish, with Dragusin fitting the profile of player Tottenham are tracking under his stewardship.

Dragusin progressed through Juventus’ academy and made his debut as a substitute in December 2020, coming on against Dynamo Kyiv before being introduced for his Serie A bow in the same month away to Genoa with future team-mates Kulusevski and Bentancur on the pitch at the same time.

The following campaign brought loan spells with Sampdoria and Salernitana in Italy’s top flight, but it was a season-long loan at Genoa in 2022 which kickstarted his upward trajectory.

Dragusin starred for Genoa in their promotion back to Serie A, playing 38 times and scoring four goals before he made the move permanent in July.

Dragusin continued his excellent form but, after 22 appearances this term, he will now ply his trade in England.

Tottenham stepped up their pursuit of the centre-back last week, but had to battle late interest from Bayern Munich on Tuesday after they had finally reached an agreement with Genoa before Dragusin decided to move to the Premier League club on Wednesday.

He will provide much-needed depth in central defence alongside vice-captain Cristian Romero, summer recruit Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies.

Djed Spence, meanwhile, has headed in the other direction on loan for the rest of the season and Dragusin’s arrival has contributed to Dier’s exit.

Bayern registered an interest in Dier last week and, while they made a late bid to sign Dragusin, Spurs beating them to the Romanian’s signature resulted in Thomas Tuchel’s side being forced to pursue other targets.

Bundesliga champions Bayern pressed forward with plans to sign Dier and he completed a dream move to Germany on Thursday on an initial six-month deal, which can be extended by a further year.

Dier’s transfer to Bayern will boost his faint hopes of forcing his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England squad and allow him to link up with former team-mate Harry Kane, who completed a £100m switch to Munich in August.

Centre-back Dier leaves Tottenham after 10 seasons in north London and 365 appearances, having helped the club reach two League Cup finals and the Champions League final in 2019.

“This move is a dream come true for me, because as a child you want to play for a club like Bayern one day,” Dier told the official club website.

“Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world and has an incredible history. I want to help the team with my versatility in defence.

“I’m really looking forward to my new team-mates and the fans at the Allianz Arena, which in my eyes is one of the best stadiums in the world.”

Tottenham have completed the signing of centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa in a move which has paved the way for Eric Dier to join Bayern Munich.

Romania international Dragusin has put pen to paper on a six-and-a-half-year deal at Spurs and is the club’s second addition of the January transfer window after Timo Werner’s arrival on loan on Tuesday.

A centre-back was always Ange Postecoglou’s number-one priority this month and Tottenham have secured the services of Dragusin in a deal that could rise to £25million, the PA news agency understands.

The 21-year-old has signed in time so that he could make his debut at Manchester United on Sunday and marks another shift in tactic by the club from their previously adopted transfer strategy.

Spurs have notoriously waited until the end of January to complete their winter business, signing both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur on the final day of the window in 2022 and securing the services of Pedro Porro with minutes to spare last year.

Postecoglou publicly made clear his desire to sign another centre-back and to crucially bring in recruits early to enable them to get up to speed with his style of football as quickly as possible.

The Australian has got his wish, with Dragusin fitting the profile of player Tottenham are tracking under his stewardship.

Dragusin progressed through Juventus’ academy and made his debut as a substitute in December 2020, coming on against Dynamo Kyiv before being introduced for his Serie A bow in the same month away to Genoa with future team-mates Kulusevski and Bentancur on the pitch at the same time.

The following campaign brought loan spells with Sampdoria and Salernitana in Italy’s top flight, but it was a season-long loan at Genoa in 2022 which kickstarted his upward trajectory.

Dragusin starred for Genoa in their promotion back to Serie A, playing 38 times and scoring four goals before he made the move permanent in July.

Dragusin continued his excellent form but, after 22 appearances this term, he will now ply his trade in England.

Tottenham stepped up their pursuit of the centre-back last week, but had to battle late interest from Bayern Munich on Tuesday after they had finally reached an agreement with Genoa before Dragusin decided to move to the Premier League club on Wednesday.

He will provide much-needed depth in central defence alongside vice-captain Cristian Romero, summer recruit Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies.

Djed Spence, meanwhile, has headed in the other direction on loan for the rest of the season and Dragusin’s arrival has contributed to Dier’s anticipated exit.

Bayern registered an interest in Dier last week and, while they made a late bid to sign Dragusin, Spurs beating them to the Romanian’s signature has resulted in Thomas Tuchel’s side being forced to pursue other targets.

Bundesliga champions Bayern pressed forward with plans to sign Dier and he was given permission to travel to Germany on Thursday morning for a medical after a 4million euros (£3,440,000) deal was struck between the two clubs, PA understands.

Dier’s imminent transfer to Bayern will boost his faint hopes of forcing his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England squad and allow him to link up with former team-mate Harry Kane, who completed a £100m switch to Munich in August.

Derek Adams has continued his Ross County squad overhaul by signing goalkeeper George Wickens on loan from Fulham and allowing  defender Ben Purrington to depart for Exeter City.

Wickens, 22, is yet to make a senior appearance for the west London club, although he got some experience of first-team football while on loan at National League side Wealdstone in the 2021-22 campaign.

The 6ft 5ins goalkeeper, who has represented England at under-18 level, will provide competition and cover for County number one Ross Laidlaw.

Left-back Purrington has moved to Sky Bet League One side Exeter for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old joined the Staggies in July 2022 from Charlton and made
33 appearances, scoring twice.

Purrington is the fourth player to leave County this month, with Ben Paton departing upon expiry of his contract, Kyle Turner joining Raith Rovers on loan and Scott High returning to parent club Huddersfield.

The Staggies, who appointed Adams as manager in November, are currently 11th in the cinch Premiership and looking to ease their relegation concerns when the campaign resumes later this month following the winter break.

Emma Hayes has refused to speculate over the future of injured striker Sam Kerr, whose Chelsea contract expires this summer.

Kerr underwent surgery on Thursday on an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered during what boss Hayes described as an “innocuous” turning and shooting exercise during the Blues’ warm-weather training in Morocco.

The lengthy recovery process all but guarantees the Australia captain will miss the remainder of both the Women’s Super League and Champions League campaigns, the latter Hayes’ last chance to win that elusive trophy before she parts ways with Chelsea to begin her new role as head coach of the United States women’s national team.

Asked about Kerr’s contract and concerns the forward might have played her final game for Chelsea, Hayes said: “With the announcement (of Kerr’s injury) the focus for Sam right now is on rehab.

“I’m sure when the time is right to discuss her future that will come from Sam and the club, but Sam loves Chelsea and Chelsea loves Sam, so I think that’s the most important thing to say on that front.”

England and Chelsea midfielder Fran Kirby, 30, is also out of contract this summer and earlier this week claimed in an interview with the BBC that there had been no conversations with the club about her future.

Kirby – who has experienced a number of setbacks of her own, including the knee issue that ruled her out of last summer’s World Cup and a spell out with pericarditis – expressed hope that she could continue playing top-flight football after her current deal expires.

Hayes said: “I think when it comes to Fran, it’s not unusual for players to go into the last six months of their contract. Fran knows that our goal with her is to keep her on the pitch for 100 per cent of the season, not less than 50 per cent.

“She understands that and sometimes she is a bit impatient. She wants to do everything at once but we know what a talent she is, we know what we can expect from Fran, and I’m sure, again, when the club and the player and all of the people involved with that have something to announce on that front, they will.

“But I don’t think anybody should be too panicked just because of the timelines. We have worked over 11 years to put in place a structure to make sure we’re always planning and preparing, and I think Chelsea and its future are still in a very, very good place.”

Meanwhile, there was good news about Catarina Macario, the 24-year-old USA forward who signed with the Blues in July but has yet to make an appearance for Chelsea as she endured her own prolonged recovery from an ACL injury.

Macario took a “progressive” part in the team’s sessions in Morocco and Hayes added: “I think this first part over the next couple of weeks will be the reintroduction and I think Chelsea fans can expect to see her quite soon.”

Former Ivory Coast star Sol Bamba admits the Africa Cup of Nations hosts need to prove their worth.

The ex-Cardiff and Leeds defender believes the team have fallen short at the tournament too many times.

The hosts, who open the tournament against Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan on Saturday, have only won the competition twice, the last coming in 2015.

Final defeats in 2008 and 2012, with Bamba playing in their penalty loss to Zambia 12 years ago, still hurt and the 38-year-old knows it is time for the squad to step up.

“Have we done enough? We know we haven’t because we should have won at least two more Africa Cup of Nations, definitely,” he told the PA news agency.

“Losing in 2012 was huge because we hadn’t won it since 1992. So we were absolutely desperate.

“We had what people called a golden generation with top players. We went as favourites, didn’t concede a goal and we ended up losing. The disappointment was absolutely huge. We talk about it between ourselves, we felt we missed a trick.

“Now we have top players playing in Europe but the difference of handling pressure in Europe and hosting a tournament in Africa is different.

“The expectation will be huge. In Africa it’s more than football. The first game will be massive. For Ivory Coast, though, winning games is not enough, you have to play a certain way.”

Manager Jean-Louis Gasset has omitted Galatasaray’s Wilfried Zaha for the tournament and Bamba hopes he does not regret the decision.

“It’s controversial because he’s a top player,” said Bamba, who earned 46 caps for his country.

“When you’re a top player you have to be picked for the national team. The manager said it was for the balance of the team, that they’ve got too many right-footed players on the wing.

“For me, this is an excuse. When you’re a manager you need to pick your best players and it is your job to make them perform at the highest level.

“The most important thing is he doesn’t really gel with the group, he keeps himself to himself. You also have to pick a team according to the dynamic of the group.

“The fans know it’s the main reason he’s not been picked. They had better have a good tournament otherwise everyone will be on his (Gasset’s) back.”

Seven-time champions Egypt, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah spearheading their challenge, face Mozambique in Group B on Sunday and Senegal start their title defence against Gambia in Group C on Monday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Africa Cup Of Nations (@africacupofnations)

Senegal, with Tottenham midfielder Pape Sarr, are favourites with the final due to be held on February 11 at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, leaving Premier League clubs waiting to see when their stars will return.

Ghana, coached by former Newcastle and Brighton boss Chris Hughton, boast West Ham’s in form Mohamed Kudus and Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew.

Arsenal will be without Thomas Partey (Ghana) and Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) while Nottingham Forest will miss seven players, including Cheikhou Kouyate and Serge Aurier, in a blow to new boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

Manchester United have Andre Onana (Cameroon), Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) and Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) away.

Chelsea have recalled David Fofana from his loan at Union Berlin.

The 21-year-old striker featured 17 times for the Bundesliga side including four matches in the club’s debut Champions League campaign, scoring twice in total.

Having arrived at Stamford Bridge for £10.9million from Norwegian outfit Molde in January 2023, he made three Premier League appearances under former boss Graham Potter last season before agreeing what was due to be a 12-month switch to Germany.

He returns early to west London with the club currently lacking in attacking options, with Nicolas Jackson away representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations and Christopher Nkunku having missed the last two games with a hip injury.

Armando Broja has been the only recognised striker available to manager Mauricio Pochettino in recent weeks but has scored just twice this season since recovering from an ACL injury.

Union have endured a difficult campaign after finishing fourth last time, losing nine games in a row which led to the sacking of manager Urs Fischer in November.

They were eliminated in the group stages of the Champions League, collecting two points from their six games.

Meanwhile goalkeeper Jamie Cumming has joined League One promotion hopefuls Oxford on loan for the rest of the season.

The 24-year-old, who has not played a senior competitive game for the Blues, spent 2022-23 on loan at MK Dons where he won player of the year.

Chief executive Darren Eales has admitted even Newcastle could not resist a “£1billion” bid for one of their biggest names after reporting a loss of £73.4million.

The Magpies, who are 80 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, are considered one of the world’s richest football clubs, but like all their Premier League counterparts they have to operate within profit and sustainability rules.

Sporting director Dan Ashworth has insisted in the past that spending £200m a year on players – Amanda Staveley’s consortium has invested in excess of £400m in the squad since completing its takeover in October 2021 – is unsustainable, prompting speculation that the likes of Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes or Alexander Isak could be sold to fund future recruitment.

Asked about that possibility as he discussed the club’s financial figures for the year ending June 30, 2023, Eales said: “It’s difficult to hypothesise, but if we’re offered £1billion for one of those players, then no one could argue against that making sense.

“Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club. It’s difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we’re going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.”

Newcastle’s rise since Staveley and her partners – the Ripon-based financier is understood to have reduced her 10 per cent personal stake in the club, but she and the Reuben Brothers still control the remaining 20 per cent of the shares between them – took charge at St James’ Park has been spectacular.

They inherited a side sitting in 19th place in the table and having appointed Eddie Howe as their new head coach, saw him guide them to safety in comfort by the end of the 2021-22 season, and then a fourth-placed finish and Champions League qualification 12 months later with a trip to the Carabao Cup final along the way.

The latest figures, which show a loss after tax of £73.4m, but also how the club have grown off the pitch – turnover increased by £70.3m (39 per cent) from £180m to £250.3m, while an operating loss of £26.4m was transformed into a profit of £20.1m.

However, increased player amortisation costs – the way transfer fees are spread across the length of contracts – rose to £89.3m, contributing to the overall deficit, but one which falls within permitted limits.

The documents also reveal the club have loaned Staveley more than £1.2m “in respect of certain legal fees” which are unspecified.

The results do not include projected revenue of at least £37m from the club’s involvement in this season’s Champions League, nor income from new sponsorship deals with Sela and Adidas, and efforts to increase commercial revenue are ongoing with an expansion of the stadium one possibility.

Eales said: “To put it into perspective, we want to be a top-six sustainable club and Tottenham’s latest accounts available, (total revenue) was £440m. We are at £250m, so there is a big step even to the lower end of the top six.

“We have also seen that Manchester City are £710m in revenue in their latest accounts. There is a long way to go in growing those revenues.”

Eales, who signalled the club’s intention to retain the services of Ashworth amid reported interest from Manchester United, indicated that significant investment during the “difficult” January transfer window is unlikely, but insisted there were no plans to loan players from the Saudi Arabian clubs in which PIF holds controlling interests.

He also confirmed Howe’s centrality to the project amid speculation over his future during a testing series of results as 2023 drew to a close.

Eales said: “There’s no doubt we have had that real progression on the pitch and Eddie is a huge, integral part of that. We hope he is going to be with us for many years to come.”

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel believes his side have taken a “step forward” over the winter break as they set their sights on victory against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Friday night.

Munich have three consecutive home games, starting with the visit of seventh-placed Hoffenheim, as they turn the corner for the final half of the season looking to become champions for a 12th successive season.

They currently sit second in pursuit of that goal, four points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen with a game in hand, and will be looking to keep their home unbeaten run going.

Tuchel thinks his side are improving and has set a clear goal for the remainder of the season.

He told a press conference: “We’ve got the chance on Friday to move closer to Leverkusen.

“We’ve got a very high level but still have room for improvement in the opposition half and in counter-pressing. I’ve got the impression that we’ve taken a step forward in the last week.

“We want to get on a bit of a run with the three home games. The goal is clear that we want to be champions.”

Munich will head off on a four-day training camp to Portugal following the Hoffenheim fixture.

Tuchel is confident that will further improve his squad, giving them the opportunity to train in warm weather with less risk of injury or illness.

He added: “I like training camps with warm temperatures. You can spend more time together.

“We don’t have the extreme cold so can organise the breaks differently. With the cold there’s a greater danger of illness and injuries. The conditions should be perfect to train twice a day.

“We can then continue working more on patterns in attack and defence, set pieces and much more. I’m looking forward to it. I hope we head to Portugal with a win. We can gain a few more percent from it.”

Bayern Munich are expected to confirm the signing of Eric Dier from Tottenham ahead of the game and Tuchel thinks the England international will add great versatility to his team.

The former Chelsea boss said: “Things can always go wrong at the final moment. He’s (Dier) in Munich and we’re trying to finalise the deal. He’d be a good alternative for the squad. We’ll have to wait and see with everything else, but he’s in the city.

“Eric has become a specialist at centre-back. He can play either centre-back position and in a back three. He often used to play in midfield. We’ll see whether it happens or not.

“Patience isn’t my greatest virtue. Every coach wants to have all their players from the first day, but that will never happen. I’m more patient than in the past. I know how complicated the transfer business has become.

“There are a lot of interests and it’s become very complex. Even though Eric is in the city, it’s not done yet. When he signs, we’ll be pleased. We’re always trying to make things happen – not just transfers but also other things. We have ambitious goals.”

Manchester United misfit Jadon Sancho has returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the season.

The 23-year-old winger claimed on social media in September that he had been made a “scapegoat” after boss Erik ten Hag said he did not reach the “level” required to be involved in their squad at Arsenal.

United later confirmed Sancho would train away from the first-team group “pending resolution of a squad discipline issue”, but a settlement between player and manager was never reached.

The England international has been banished for the past four months and will now look to kickstart his career in familiar surroundings, having returned to Dortmund on a temporary basis.

“When I walked into the changing room today, it felt like ‘coming home’,” said Sancho, who left the Bundesliga side for United in a £73million deal in 2021.

“I know the club inside out, I’ve always been very close to the fans here and I’ve never lost contact with the people in charge.

“I can’t wait to see my team-mates again, get out on the pitch, play football with a smile on my face, get assists, score goals and help the club qualify for the Champions League.”

The PA news agency understands Dortmund are contributing an initial 3.5million euros (£3m) to take Sancho on loan without an option to buy.

That figure could reach 7.5m euros (£6.5m) dependent on appearances and team success as Sancho looks to get his career back on track.

Sancho made the last of his 82 United appearances 141 days ago against Nottingham Forest – one of just three games he has played in this season.

Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said: “Jadon is an absolute difference-maker and I’m looking forward to seeing him in Black & Yellow again soon. He knows this city, Signal Iduna Park, our fans and our club.

“Even though he hasn’t played any competitive games in recent months, we’re sure that he’ll quickly settle back in with us, find his best form and help us to achieve our season objectives with his qualities.”