Remember when Jadon Sancho was one of the most wanted players in Europe?
When Manchester United finally signed him in 2021 after one of the saddest transfer sagas in recent memory, it seemed as if they had had their wide-open attack for a generation.
With home-grown Marcus Rashford on the left and Jadon Sancho, who had completed his academy training at Manchester City before moving to Borussia Dortmund in 2017, on the right, Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s United looked in position to challenge for their first Premier League title since 2013. .
Fifty-eight league appearances, nine goals, three first-team managers, and a public spat with Erik ten Hag later, Sancho was sent back to Dortmund on loan in January, with his elite-level career at stake. As United struggled, the previously heralded talent who could have signed for one of Europe’s best clubs became a symbol of their long-term decline.
But if the first match against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals of the Champions League is anything to go by, Sancho is back at the top of football.
(Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
“I could see from his first touches that he was confident,” former Manchester United and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves told TNT Sports, the British broadcaster of the Champions League. “His body language indicated that he believed. There is a big difference between just running at people and being arrogant. He had a bit of courage about him. This is what makes a talented player very good.”
Over the past three years, “arrogance” has not been used to describe Sancho in a positive way. On Wednesday night, however, Sancho found the confidence on the pitch that prompted United to spend £73m ($91.5m in current prices) on him in 2021.
His first meaningful contribution came in the 12th minute, when PSG left-back Nuno Mendes cut in his first pass, won the ball back and set Dortmund on the attack.
As Mendes tried to rush past him down the line, Sancho stuck his right foot out and instead of putting the ball out of play, blocked his run and kept the ball alive. After completing the tackle, he successfully repeated the intended pass to Julian Brandt down the right wing. When Marcel Sabitzer burst into the box, Brandt sent a well-weighted cross into the path of the former United loanee, but Gianluigi Donnarumma saved his shot.
From then on, Sancho’s performance was pure magic.
“He’s not just a dribbler or someone who runs at people’s pace: he’s a footballer,” said former United defender Rio Ferdinand. “He wants to come in and play one-twos and be part of the game and the pace of the game. What I saw today, and what all Man United fans and I have been waiting to see, was Sancho’s cagey football. This is the kid who grew up in cages playing with arrogance.”
Against PSG, Sancho completed 12 dribbles – the most by any individual in a Champions League semi-final since Lionel Messi against Manchester United in 2008. In the first 30 minutes, he had completed seven, already the most of any player in a single knockout game this season.
In the first half, he combined with right-back Julian Ryerson and midfielder Brandt, who often came alongside Sancho, to create too much for Mendes to exploit. With Sancho not being the quickest, having players with a high technical level available nearby is where he shows signs of that ‘cage football’ ability that made him look so promising in his first season at Dortmund.
At United, Sancho struggled to find those combinations with his teammates. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is an excellent one-on-one defender but can lack stability in possession and the switch tactics often used by Ten Hag can isolate Sancho from midfield. Sancho is at his best in a team that controls the ball and follows an organized attacking pattern, but that doesn’t mean he can’t find joy when isolated against a full-back.
An hour into the game, after receiving a pass from Ryerson, Sancho confronted Mendes on the right wing about 20 yards from the touchline. Mendes, who struggled to deal with Sancho’s threat all evening, stuck his foot out early and Sancho ran past his challenge and sprinted towards goal.
As he approached the touchline, Sancho lifted his head and saw striker Niclas Fullkrug alone in the box, six meters from goal. Sancho lifted a pass to Fullkrug, who wasted a golden opportunity to extend Dortmund’s lead.
With quick feet and a burst of pace – something Sancho rarely saw in a United shirt – followed by a clever pass into a giant striker, you’d have been forgiven for feeling a sharp sense of deja vu. Except Erling Haaland, in the Dortmund team a few years ago, would definitely have scored.
It should have been the first of a hat-trick of assists, with Sancho creating two big chances within 20 seconds. Sancho threatens as much from the center as he does out wide, and on the duo’s first chance he found himself inside, having been knocked down by Brandt 30 yards from goal.
Brandt turned and headed straight towards the center of PSG’s goal behind defender Lucas Beraldo, who had tried to press the ball. Sancho calmly sent the ball through Beraldo’s legs and into Brandt’s path. But despite being in a great goal-scoring position, Brandt’s shot was blocked by the retreating Marquinhos.
Sancho then picked up the loose ball on the wing and laid it for Marco Reus, who was unmarked seven meters from the goal.
However, Reus failed to time his dive and headed over the bar – another golden opportunity missed, and another created by Sancho.
“At United we didn’t really see him tie people down,” Hargreaves said. “Whether it was confidence or he wasn’t as fit.” Jadon answered many questions today. We could criticize him and say he’s not as consistent – (but) today he outplayed every player on that pitch. And that’s against some of the best players in the world. That was really impressive from Jadon.
Against PSG, Sancho reminded everyone why he is a special talent. While no one can deny that he hasn’t shown the consistency needed to succeed at United, inconsistency was just as prevalent there at both board and management level.
Under Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS there is a new dawn at Old Trafford. Perhaps Sancho, reborn in an environment where he feels loved and appreciated, has also had a fresh start.
(Feature photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
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