 SANCHO

‘Jadon Sancho’s arrival at Manchester United is the biggest and most important piece of transfer business facilitated by the Club since Wayne Rooney’s Old Trafford move in 2004’. This bold statement was made by journalist Toby Cudworth. Could this really be the case, considering that since 2004, United have paid out £1.4bn in collective transfer fees to (re-) sign Paul Pogba, nurtured David de Gea into the (then) best goalkeeper in the world, and signed the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Robin van Persie, Dimitar Berbatov and many others to win countless Premier League titles. Jadon Sancho has also not cost Manchester United as much as Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku or Harry Maguire. Time will tell.

Following the completion of the medical after his participation at Euro 2020, and settlement on personal terms, United agreed a £72.9million fee to sign the 21-year old Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. He is, as we know, English and a quick wide forward who can prolong the club’s love affair with wingers.

Although Borussia Dortmund have now pocketed £72.9m, one has to recall that last year they had demanded the unrealistic and exorbitant sum of £108 million. That is a surprisingly substantial difference of £35.1m. So the wait has been worth it moneywise. Consider also that in 2014, at age 14, he had been transferred from Watford Youths to Manchester City for just 66,000 euro. Amid Manchester United interest, he then moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2017 for 8 million euro. Now he is back in Manchester, but this time in red.

He has signed a five‑year deal at United, with an option of a further year. He will wear the no. 25 shirt. He is the second signing of the summer following the addition of goalkeeper Tom Heaton. Reportedly, this is a 200,0000 GBP-a-week deal until 2026, with the option for another year. United have pointed out their net investment in players over the last three summers now stands at €295m (£252.4m), more than any other major European club over the same period.

Playing for Borussia, Sancho scored 50 goals across 137 appearances, 36 of these goals (together with no less than 40 assists) in the last two seasons alone. In his final season in Germany, he also won the German Cup. Sancho’s form was key. He scored two goals in a big win over RB Leipzig during the run-in, and then he also scored two in the cup final win against them again a few days later. On that cup run, Sancho scored in every round but the semi‑final – but he set up two in that game! He’s scored goals in the Champions League as well. A free-kick against Club Brugge stands out.

As an international, he has played 58 matches across the England international set-up, taking in games for the Under-16s, U17s, U19s and the seniors and scored 26 goals across those games.

Sancho is, as Ed Woodward privately described, a game-changer. He’s played off both wings for Dortmund, and has been seen switching wings multiple times during games. At United, he would be expected to slot in on the right-hand side of a formidable United attack, supplementing Edinson Cavani, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. In Germany, last season, Sancho played the majority of the season on the left, which offers Greenwood and Amad encouragement and will keep Rashford on his toes.

At the signing, Solskjaer was full of praise for the youngster: “Jadon epitomises the type of player I want to bring to the club, he is a forward player in the best traditions of Manchester United. He will form an integral part of my squad for years to come and we look forward to seeing him blossom. His goals and assists records speak for themselves and he will also bring tremendous pace, flair and creativity to the team.”

Matt Ford, the freelance football journalist, an MUFC regular and an expert on German football, was asked in what way was Sancho different to Rashford, Greenwood and the rest? He replied ‘I remember debates last year around ‘Do we really need another player in the Rashford, Greenwood mould, or do we need a proper no.9?’ Before Cavani came in... However, out of the three – Rashford, Martial and Greenwood – I’d compare him more to Martial. Perhaps more direct and more penetrative, though he’s not had the injury issues Martial has had.’ Matt Ford was also asked about Sancho’s character? The journalist replied that he always seemed to be a well-integrated and popular part of any squad, always seeming to be having a laugh and a joke with his team-mates. ‘Off the pitch, he seemed to get on well with people’ . And purely among the Dortmund support, they absolutely loved him, opined Ford. He was popular and there was no bad blood when he left.

Jadon Sancho is certainly a highly technical, creative player, known for his trickery, pace and use of feints in one-on-one situations For all intents and purposes, this is more of a marquee signing than any of the former great players that United had signed before. This is simply because he’s a top quality signing ready to lead United forward not only now, but for the next decade and some. The last trophy United have won was the Europa League back in 2017; the last Premier League title triumph came in 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down after 26 years. Sancho said he is determined to help bring silverware back to Old Trafford. “I can’t wait to get started and obviously want to bring trophies to where they belong,” he said.

One could convincingly argue that Sancho would not have been so much in the media’s spotlight had he not moved from Manchester City at the age of 17 in order to pursue a more direct path to first team football in Germany. Notwithstanding, there is no doubt that he is young, fearless and exciting to watch, and the 21-year-old is a player whose potential you dare not put a ceiling on.