Dortmund snap up Manchester City youngster Sancho

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Dortmund, August 31: England Under-17 international Jadon Sancho has signed for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City.

The 17-year-old winger was heavily linked with Arsenal and Tottenham over the past month and reportedly stayed away from training at City after not being named in Pep Guardiola's squad for the club's pre-season tour to the United States.

Sancho's colleagues from City's FA Youth Cup final side of last season Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz both played and starred in City's outings against Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham stateside with Sancho, who signed from Watford as a 14-year-old in 2015, understood to be concerned over his prospects of first-team opportunities under Guardiola.

He could get more game-time at Dortmund, with Sancho taking the number seven shirt vacated by Ousmane Dembele following his initial €105million transfer to Barcelona.

A transfer fee for Sancho has not been disclosed but Dortmund are thought to have agreed to pay City more than the €210,000 the Premier League club would have been entitled to in compensation had they negotiated directly with the player.

Some reports suggest the deal might be worth in the region of €9m, with City also standing to benefit from a sell-on clause.

Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc hailed Sancho as "one of the greatest talents in European football".

He told his club's official website: "We are very pleased that Jadon Sancho, who is currently one of the greatest talents in European football, will definitely play at BVB.

"We are convinced that we can help this very young player continue to develop his game and enrich our team in the medium term."

Sancho scored five goals as England finished as runners-up at the UEFA Under-17 Championship this year and was named player of the tournament.

Source: OPTA