Man Utd chief pushes for Raheem Sterling amid Jadon Sancho ‘preference’ boost

Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth is convinced Raheem Sterling is a “good fit” for the Red Devils project and Jadon Sancho’s ‘preference’ boosts the Chelsea star’s chances of a move to Old Trafford.

Sterling has been relegated to the Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ by manager Enzo Maresca, who reiterated ahead of the Blues’ second leg of their Europa Conference League play-off against Servette that the winger will not be playing if he remains at Stamford Bridge.

“He knows exactly what he has to do,” Maresca said. “He doesn’t need my advice. I prefer to be honest with the player. . I don’t know what happens when the window closes. We will see who is here and who is not here.

“The only thing I can say is the ones who are going to get minutes are the ones who I think can help us. It’s not just Raheem. It’s all the players who are training apart. The moment the transfer ­window closes, they are not going to get ­minutes. I’ve already been clear with them and honest.”

Reports suggest Sterling is keen on a move to United and journalist Graeme Bailey told United in Focus that Ashworth reckons the 29-year-old would be a “good fit”.

“Dan Ashworth knows Raheem Sterling well from his time at the FA and has a lot of time for him,” Bailey said. “He believes he is a good fit for Manchester United’s project.”

Bailey also explained that a deal for Sterling is not dependent on Sancho joining Chelsea.

He added: “It’s not dependent on Sancho – United want him out, Chelsea want Sterling out – nice fit but not necessarily one without the other.

“If Chelsea take Sancho they want one to go the other way, but if Sancho ends up at Juventus then Chelsea still want Sterling out.”

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The two clubs have already held talks over a possible swap deal , though the chances of that looked to have decreased on the back of Juventus supposedly reaching a ‘full agreement’ to sign Sancho on Wednesday.

But it was later revealed that Sancho has ‘indicated a preference to join Chelsea over Juventus’ , so the swap deal may still be on.

Asked about the possibility of signing Sancho before the end of the transfer window, Maresca refused to rule it out.

“If we have to sign a player just for signing, I don’t want it,” the Chelsea head coach said.

“But if we can sign a player who can help us, for sure I want it. I know Jadon very well from many years with [Manchester] City. I know him very well. But he is not our player. We will see what happens.”

Chelsea have other irons in the fire before the deadline, with Fabrizio Romano revealing a boost to their chances of landing top striker Victor Osimhen ahead of Al-Ahli.