Manchester United were reportedly forced to swallow a major price cut in their demands for Jadon Sancho to offload the winger to Chelsea on deadline day.
The 24-year-old had been frozen out at Man United last season following a public falling out with manager Erik ten Hag.
Their dispute led to Sancho returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign.
He had been welcomed back by Ten Hag in pre-season after clearing the air with the United manager but was left out of the matchday squad for their opening two games of the Premier League season.
Jadon Sancho completed a deadline day loan to Chelsea which could be made permanent
Sancho's return to Man United proved only a short one, with the winger sealing a move to Chelsea.
According to the Athletic, the Red Devils had reportedly been holding out for a £40million fee for Sancho during the summer transfer window.
It would have represented a major discount on the £73m fee paid by Man United to sign Sancho from Dortmund in 2021.
Chelsea, however, reportedly made a move for Sancho on deadline day as Man United reduced their demands for the winger.
The Blues are expected to pay £23million to make Sancho's move permanent next summer, with the fee depending on performance related add-ons.
The sum would represent a reduction of around £17million from Man United's initial demands.
He was paraded on the pitch wearing the No 19 shirt, before watching the Blues draw 1-1 at home with Crystal Palace.
Speaking about his arrival Sancho said: 'I’m really excited to be here. London is where I grew up and I’m happy to be back.
'The manager spoke to me about the project and, for a young player, it's exciting. Hopefully I can bring goals and assists to the Bridge.'
Sancho replaces Raheem Sterling, who joined Arsenal in a deadline day loan move having been exiled to a 'bomb squad' at Chelsea by manager Enzo Maresca.
Man United's new sporting director Dan Ashworth insisted the club had taken 'brave decisions' in the transfer window, including sanctioning the departure of Sancho.
'Sometimes you have to make decisions that maybe you don't want to make,' Ashworth said. 'If you run with too big a squad it can cause problems, so you have to sometimes make brave decisions.
‘You're dealing with players that ultimately want to play football. I think with any player — whether it's Jadon, Scott [McTominay] or Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] — if there's a preference that they would like to go to a new club and it's right for them and it's right for us, then you have to explore it.
'Jadon wanted to explore the opportunity at Chelsea, like Scott wanted to explore the opportunity at Napoli and Aaron wanted to explore the opportunity at West Ham. We're not in a position where we're kicking players out of the club.'