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Tottenham’s chances of signing Manchester City youngster just improved

By Ryan Wrenn

VOLUNTARI, ROMANIA - OCTOBER 30: Jadon Sancho of England celebrates after the UEFA Under-17 EURO Qualifier between U17 Austria and U17 England on October 30, 2016 at Anghel Iordanescu stadium in Voluntari, Romania. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images)
VOLUNTARI, ROMANIA - OCTOBER 30: Jadon Sancho of England celebrates after the UEFA Under-17 EURO Qualifier between U17 Austria and U17 England on October 30, 2016 at Anghel Iordanescu stadium in Voluntari, Romania. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City grip on Jadon Sancho appears to have finally slipped, leaving Tottenham and Arsenal to scramble for the youngster’s signature.

Tottenham recruiters no doubt felt elated on Wednesday when a new twist was added to the saga that felt like just a hopeful rumor mere weeks ago.

Sancho is a near-consensus pick for the most promising youngster in any Premier League academy, and up until this summer looked primed to play a much bigger role in Pep Guardiola’s team in the new season.

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Which made perfect sense. As we covered in our last piece about the youngster, he is a lightning quick, agile and thoroughly composed presence on the ball — the kind of player that some teams might want to build around.

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The recruitment of Bernardo Silva from Monaco complicated matters however. The Portuguese was just one more player ahead of Sancho in line for a starting spot in City’s attacking midfield. Whatever chance Sancho might have with City, it wasn’t going to come soon.

Such assumptions made it easy for Sancho to turn his nose up at a contract renewal that might have netted him £30,000 a week — a tremendous amount for a 17-year-old with no first team experience. City, perhaps disheartened that their considerable wealth was not the immediate solution in this instance, left Sancho behind when they went on tour to the United States.

It was right around then that Tottenham appeared on the scene. Reportedly the club inquired about including Sancho in the deal that would send Kyle Walker north to Manchester, though they were promptly turned down.

Nevertheless, Tottenham’s interest was no out there now — along with Arsenal and RB Leipzig. Any sign of additional fracture would only embolden their pursuit.

Just such a fracture came Wednesday. According to the Independent, Sancho is refusing to train with City until such time as a deal is brokered for his exit.

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It’s far too soon to tell what comes of this. Technically Sancho is contracted with City until 2020, after all.

Should Sancho force the switch though, he will no doubt do so with assurances that there is a clear path into the Spurs first team. Mauricio Pochettino consistently demonstrates a willingness to give chances to younger players, with Dele Alli serving as a poster boy for the Argentinian’s open-mindedness.

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Both Arsenal and RB Leipzig can make similar claims regarding promoting youth through the ranks, of course. While this latest twist certainly serves as encouragement for Spurs, it isn’t over yet.