Rio is wrong! Sancho’s Man Utd struggles aren’t Dortmund’s fault

Robin Bairner

• 30 Apr 2022 22:10 BST
• 3 min read

Jadon Sancho’s difficult first season with Manchester United is a direct result of his decision to depart England for Borussia Dortmund, Red Devils legend Rio Ferdinand has claimed in a bizarre rant.

Sancho began his career in Manchester City’s academy before moving to the Bundesliga side as a 17-year-old.

He graduated quickly into their first-team and received widespread praise for his decision to move abroad as he quickly became one of BVB’s leading stars. Indeed, Sancho’s case is often cited as a reason why so many young English players are trying their luck in foreign leagues presently.

Rio Ferdinand on Jadon Sancho

Ferdinand, though, has taken a different view.

“He got his move to United for £75 million and he struggled because he had never played in the Premier League before. As someone who came through the English set-up, the English game makes you robust – there’s no getting away from it,” he claimed on Five.

“It hardens you and that’s why you see a lot of players go out on loan in the lower league clubs to become a man. Jadon Sancho has come back to England and now he’s probably feeling like he has to become a man again, because of the robustness of the league.”

He added on Noni Madueke, who is currently starring in the Eredivisie: “For some young players it’s fantastic to get games under your belt if you can play for PSV, but we are seeing how hard it is to then come back.

“That’s the one thing that frightens me in terms of all these youngsters going abroad. Yeah, it’s fantastic going abroad and bringing a different culture back, but what do we as English fans want to see?”

A quick check of Ferdinand’s comments show that they stand up to little scrutiny. They immediately imply that there is an implicit additional risk in signing a footballer from a foreign league – even one as strong as the Bundesliga.

Has Sancho, for example, had any poorer a season than Jack Grealish, who completed an even bigger move from Aston Villa to Manchester City? Has Liverpool’s Luis Diaz been handicapped because he had not played Premier League football before joining the Anfield club from Porto in January? How about Bruno Guimaraes at Newcastle?

There are plenty of counter examples to Sancho, which show that each deal has to be considered on its own merits and not pigeonholed simply because of one critic's perception of a certain league.

Ferdinand’s comments are baseless and lazy. If Sancho’s transfer to Manchester United hasn’t worked out yet, it’s not because his professional career started at Dortmund.