Gareth Southgate: Jadon Sancho training at his best level ahead of Ukraine clash

Gareth Southgate says Jadon Sancho has not been distracted by his move to Manchester United and is instead training at his “best level” with England.

The 21-year-old is set to complete his £73million switch from Borussia Dortmund to Old Trafford after the European Championship, signing a five-year deal with the option of a further season.

The clubs confirmed an agreement had been reached on Thursday, just as preparations were stepping up ahead of England’s crunch quarter-final against Ukraine in Rome.

But Southgate says such discussions have not been a problem for the Three Lions, with the winger tipped to make his first start of Euro 2020 on Saturday evening.

Asked if it has been a distraction, the England boss told ITV: “No, in fact I think Jadon over the last seven days has trained at the best level in the time with us.

“You accept there are lots of ongoing transfer situations and nobody is coming in for talks, nobody is going out for talks, but we can’t stop people’s phones ringing, we can’t stop business happening outside of that.

“You have to just trust the players and I think they’re all very focused.

“I haven’t really had a long discussion with him about it at this moment because that’s story has been going for 12 months, really.

“When everything is sort of confirmed, I’m sure I’ll have a chat with him.

“There’s so much speculation about all of our players that I don’t pick up every little individual piece but of course I’m checking in with the players every day and seeing how they are.

“The biggest thing is he has been very focused in his training and that’s been good.”