Jadon Sancho has completed his £73 million move to Old Trafford.
The English winger arrives as Manchester United’s first summer signing.
Sancho becomes United’s third most expensive purchase, behind club captain Harry Maguire and Paul Pogba.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be delighted to have finally captured his priority signing, after the failure of their pursuit just 12 months prior.
What Sancho had to say about joining United
“I’ll always be grateful to Dortmund for giving me the opportunity to play first team football, although I always knew that I would return to England one day.
The chance to join Manchester United is a dream come true and I just cannot wait to perform in the Premier League.
This is a young and exciting squad and I know, together, we can develop into something special to bring the success that the fans deserve.
“I am looking forward to working with the Manager and his coaching team to further develop my game.”
What Solskjaer had to say about Sancho’s arrival
“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.”
“Old Trafford will give him the platform he needs to release his untapped talent and perform at the highest level.
For a player of his age, Jadon has already achieved a great deal and showed the courage to go and prove himself abroad.
We all look forward to welcoming Jadon to the squad as we prepare for the new campaign.”
Sancho’s career so far
The English winger originally started his footballing career off in the Watford academy.
When speaking to the club, Sancho said: “Watford was a lot of fun, I was happy when I was there and I had a lot of freedom when I was playing. That’s what makes me happy and makes me the best player I can be when I’m just free, doing what I love.”
“Probably the little skills that I do now. At Watford I used to work on a lot of skills and I want to show people what I can do. I’ve kept that throughout my career but what has changed is I’m less greedy now. I like to pass now, but before at Watford I was just greedy… I never used to pass.
He was scouted by Watford at just 9-years of age, before signing a youth contract with the Hornets at 11. Sancho spent three years at Watford before making the move to Manchester City, when he was only 14.
However, after a couple years at Manchester City, relations broke down between Sancho and the club, after a disagreement in promised game time. Sancho wanted guaranteed minutes which the club couldn’t offer him. Subsequently, as a result, Sancho forced his way out of the club, and made a £10m move to Borussia Dortmund.
In the Londoner’s first season in Germany, he scored five, assisting seven in 21 appearances. In this, Sancho made 12 Bundesliga appearances. As a result, Sancho emerged as a phenomenal talent. In his second season, the former Manchester City attacker scored 12 goals, assisting 18 in 34 Bundesliga appearances. Thus, the Englishman cemented himself as a star player in the Dortmund team. Furthermore, in the Champions League, he managed one goal and one assist in the seven appearances he made.
At this point, fleeting rumours emerged about United’s interest in the winger, but nothing concrete.
In 2019/20, Sancho got even better. In all competitions, the English winger scored 20 goals, and assisted 20 in 44 appearances. Furthermore, in the Bundesliga, Sancho managed 34 goal contributions, in just 32 games. He also improved in Europe, scoring two and assisting two, in eight Champions League games.
Thus, in the summer of 2020, noise around United’s interest in the forward was high.
Solskjaer was a big fan of the winger, and was in desperate need of an attacker to slot in on the right flank.
As a result, United chased Sancho. However, with years left on his contract, Dortmund were no easy negotiators. The German club set a deadline on when they’d accept letting the Englishman go.
However, United try to push their luck. After months of negotiations and a deal seemingly in touching distance, the deal fell through after the club tried to negotiate past the deadline.
🚨 | Jadon Sancho was 'one step away' from joining #MUFC at the end of July/start of August, but United changed the payment structure of the deal. United were convinced that Dortmund would accept a different deal before the deadline [@FabrizioRomano, @podcastherewego]
— UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) October 7, 2020
Subsequently, United missed their priority signing and were forced to bring in younger talents, like Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri.
In 2020/21, Sancho started slowly. After coming so close to a dream move to the ‘theatre of dreams,’ the English winger wasn’t as focused as he once was. However, in time, Sancho got back to the levels he had shown the previous season. In the Bundesliga, Sancho scored eight, assisting 12 in 26 appearances. This was significantly lower than the season before.
However, in the Champions League, Sancho scored two, assisting three in just five appearances. In all competitions, Sancho managed 36 goal contributions, despite a slow start. This illustrated the sheer quality of the winger.
As a result, United made their £73m bid to ensure they got their man.
How Sancho will fit in the United team
With United desperately needing a right sided winger, Sancho will fit like a charm. Despite Mason Greenwood’s qualities, his preference to cut in can leave United lacking width off the right flank. Thus, the signing of Sancho could help bring Solskjaer’s side far greater width when attacking. In addition, Sancho possesses elite ball control and dribbling which is combined with his ability to make the right final ball or finish it himself.
Thus, Sancho has high footballing IQ which will help him make the right decisions in and around the box. In recent seasons, this is something United have desperately lacked. Although Dan James and Greenwood possess explosive pace, both struggle to make the right final pass. Furthermore, both James and Greenwood lack the quality needed at times to be a useful creative outlet on the right wing.
Therefore, through the signing of Sancho, United will have a far more balanced attack, with Marcus Rashford able to be the more direct winger whilst Sancho stays wide and acts as a creative outlet to combine with Bruno Fernandes to help make chances for Edison Cavani. The creativity, combined with Sancho’s elite goal contribution record will make him a great asset for the club in years to come.
How United may look to line up
- Goalkeeper – David de Gea
- Right Back – Aaron Wan Bissaka
- Centre Back – Harry Maguire
- Centre Back – Victor Lindelof
- Left Back – Luke Shaw
- Centre midfield – Fred
- Centre Midfield – Scott McTominay
- Attacking Midfield – Bruno Fernandes
- Left Wing – Marcus Rashford
- Centre Forward – Edison Cavani
- Right Wing – Jadon Sancho
Therefore, the signing of Jadon Sancho is an incredibly positive one for United, as the winger will slot in perfectly to add the needed quality to take Solskjaer’s attack to the next level, and hopefully take those extra steps needed to bring silverware back to Old