Having left the bright lights of Manchester City back in the summer of 2017, attacker Jadon Sancho took a step that very few English players have been willing to make when you consider the riches that are available in the Premier League, he moved abroad is the search of a true pathway to first team action.
His move to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund proved to be inspired, and with over 100 starting appearances to his name for them, he had good success, put himself more than on the footballing map and gained good wider European experience despite his tender age.
For those who like a flutter on their football, the odds would not have predicted his success in the our league, but he certainly became one to watch in Bundesliga match day odds and take advantage of the current bookmaker deals. It will be interesting how the bookies shape up for next season, as Dortmund are still some way behind their rivals when it comes to spending.
His performances attracted the interest of plenty of sides, including those across the Channel, and ultimately Manchester United won out in the bidding by agreeing to a £73 million transfer fee.
That is where it all went wrong for the now 23 capped England international.
Signing for them in the summer of 2021, in the following seasons, he has only made 56 starting appearances, with 26 substitute showings, and he has simply not really ever replicated his form or performance levels at Old Trafford.
His spell at the club turned even more sour when he got into a very public spat with manager Erik ten Hag last September. The out of form talent attacked his manager by claiming that he was being made a ‘scapegoat’ for wider form issues within the team and a split within the dressing room, and when he refused to apologise for his social media outburst, he was basically frozen out of first team affairs.
That led to a pretty quick loan return to Germany and Dortmund when the January transfer window opened, and simply put, it did not take him long at all to rediscover his full form and start shining again.
That is more than proven true by his performance in Dortmund’s recent Champions League semi final clash with French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain. He was outstanding in their 1-0 victory at the Signal Iduna Park and despite their massive, and public, disagreement a good few months ago, his performance actually drew praise from Ten Hag.
The 54 year old Dutch former professional centre back is on record as saying that Sancho’s performance in that game was exactly why United signed him in the first place, and why he was so valuable to the team, and he was full of praise for his showing, but he also clearly would not be drawn on what the future would hold – even though he still has two years left on his existing contract.
Obviously his answer was led by journalist questions and he may not have prepared a proper answer, but many fans of the Red Devil’s will be wondering if this could be some kind of olive branch to repair their relationship – or at the very least given the speculation that has been sparked by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos groups partial takeover of the club, even without Ten Hag, is this an opening to his return to Manchester.
Dortmund fans, and neutral Bundesliga fans, will probably be hoping that this is absolutely not true, as he thrives here, and not so much in the United Kingdom.
But the player himself needs to again ask the question on money versus happiness. That is a question that only he can answer.
