Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes to get a deal over the line for Jadon Sancho as quickly as possible to avoid a repeat of last summer's drawn out transfer saga involving Harry Maguire.
The Red Devils initially refused to spend anything in excess of £40million for Maguire but Leicester held firm with their £80m valuation of the 27-year-old England international.
United eventually gave into Leicester's demands - which saw Maguire become the most expensive defender in history - but their dithering meant the centre-back arrived just days before their opening match of the Premier League season at home to Chelsea.
According to ESPN FC, players and coaching staff were left 'bemused' by United's handling of the world-record transfer deal, considering an earlier move would have given the centre-back an entire pre-season with the club.
There was a feeling of déjà vu over the winter when Bruno Fernandes put pen to paper just hours before the January transfer deadline.
The report claims Solskjaer is desperate for United chiefs to 'accelerate' their current bid for Sancho to prevent a similar scenario arising in the lead-up to the 2020/21 campaign.
However, the Norwegian could be left pulling his hair out once again given executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is only willing to offer half of Borussia Dortmund's £100m asking price as it stands amid the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Earlier this week, Gary Pallister backed United's bid to sign Sancho and likened the young England winger to club legend Ryan Giggs.
'I like Sancho. I think he's looked the part,' the ex-United defender told MUTV's Group Chat. 'I'm not sure what's happening with him at Dortmund, they're talking about over €100m for him after this pandemic and everything that's happened with clubs not having fans.
'I don't know if that's feasible even for a club the size of Manchester United to pay that fee.
'But I think it's in those areas, that imagination we've had since we came back from lockdown. We've not seen that for a long time and I think that's how you want to see Manchester United play.
He added: 'You want to see players with a threat like [Andrei] Kanchelskis and Giggs, people like that that. And Sancho's got a bit of that in him.
'We want to bring that excitement back. That's what City have got, that's what Liverpool have got in abundance. They've got players who can make things happen in the top third of the pitch and I think that's what we've been lacking.
'It's got something to do with the managers that we've had that have been too cautious but Ole, from the moment he's walked in there, has talked about playing the Manchester United way and I think we've seen that over the last few months.
'If we continue that and bring in players who can play with that imagination then I think we'll go from strength to strength.'
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