Manchester United enter race to sign Manchester City academy starlet Jadon Sancho

Manchester United have joined north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur and Bundesliga duo Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig in the race to sign Manchester City academy scholar Jadon Sancho, according to the latest reports.

The Manchester Evening News (MEN) claims that United are pressing forward with attempts to deal a considerable blow to their cross-city foes by convincing the unhappy 17-year-old to swap the Etihad Stadium for Old Trafford as doubts regarding his future under Pep Guardiola continue to intensify.

Sancho did not join fellow highly-regarded youngsters Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz on City's pre-season tour of the United States last month, a decision that has apparently not been well received.

The Telegraph reported on Monday (30 July) that the former Watford prospect, who has been offered a maiden professional contract on reported terms of approximately £30,000-a-week ($39,695), failed to report for training after receiving such a snub and harbours real concerns regarding a pathway through to the first team at City.

The same publication suggest that he would be available to overseas teams for a low compensatory figure of just €200,000, with the price of a switch to any English suitor likely to be determined by a tribunal.

Arsenal were previously said to be winning the race for Sancho, who has entered the final year of a scholarship deal that can be terminated at any time. Spurs, Dortmund and Leipzig have also retained a keen interest, with the former even said to have been rebuffed in their attempts to include him as part of the £50m deal that saw wantaway right-back Kyle Walker join City in July.

Sancho, along with Foden, further embellished his reputation as one of English football's hottest young prospects at the European Under-17 Championship earlier this summer. The left-winger was directly involved in 10 of the 15 goals scored by Steve Cooper's team in Croatia and eventually earned player of the tournament honours after the Young Lions missed out on a record third title courtesy of an agonising penalty shootout defeat to Spain at Gradski Stadion Varazdin.

Raving about the potential of Sancho and Foden during the competition, Germany Under-17 coach Christian Wuck claimed that he had "never seen better players than these two at this age". City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak, meanwhile, previously named the duo and Spanish attacker Diaz as three players that the club "genuinely believe have a very good chance of making it to the first team".