Getafe have tabled a formal offer for the 26-year-old free agent, BBC Sport reported on Wednesday, with the La Liga club pressing to land Sancho despite acknowledging that any agreement is “complicated”.

The push comes just weeks after a surprise attempt to send Sancho to Russian champions Krasnodar fell apart. Russian outlet Championat first reported that intermediaries working on Sancho’s behalf had approached the Krasnodar side, and that the player was prepared to listen. The Russian club decided he did not fit the profile they were looking for and declined the proposal.

€4m-a-year demand sits above Getafe’s budget

Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, citing DAZN, puts Sancho’s wage demand at around €4m a year, a figure Getafe cannot absorb within their existing wage structure. The club have been working on performance-related bonuses and shorter contract lengths to bridge the gap, but no agreement has been reached.

Sancho has no transfer fee attached since his Manchester United contract expired at the end of last season. Getafe sit 14th in La Liga and are in the Conference League, and manager Jose Bordalas is described by Mundo Deportivo as a long-standing admirer of the winger’s technical game.

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A free agent since the summer

Sancho has been without a permanent club since leaving Old Trafford. He spent last season on loan at Aston Villa, making 39 appearances under Unai Emery as Villa won the Europa League and qualified for the Champions League.

A return to Borussia Dortmund, long seen as his preferred destination, closed when the German club signed Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri on loan instead. Head coach Niko Kovac explained the squad decision at a recent press conference.

“The squad is already very large. We have 26 outfield players, many of them young,” Kovac said.

“Therefore, we don’t need to concern ourselves with that.”

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Open to all options, but leaning away from England

Sancho reportedly favours a move away from his native England but remains open to all options, the BBC’s Sami Mokbel reported. Clubs in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and MLS have also been named as possible destinations in the wider reporting.

Getafe’s offer is the only formal bid currently on the table. Mundo Deportivo and Fabrizio Romano both confirmed its existence, and talks between the Spanish side and Sancho’s representatives are continuing. The Conference League registration deadline for the group stage has already passed, meaning Sancho would not be eligible for Getafe’s 17 December fixture against Ajax if a deal is agreed in the coming days.

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