'He hasn't become a bad footballer overnight' - what Sancho can do to rescue Man Utd career

Stuart Telford

• 22 Dec 2022 08:05 GMT
• 3 min read

Jadon Sancho has disappointed since his blockbuster move from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United in the summer of 2021, with speculation mounting that he could leave Old Trafford this season…

Sancho burst onto the scene with Dortmund, and across his three full seasons at the Signal Iduna Park he plundered 37 goals and 47 assists at a rate of one every 81 minutes he played in the Bundesliga.

United waited a year to get their man before finally completing an €85 million deal for him in July 2021, but his production has fallen off a cliff - his five goals and four assists in the Premier League coming in at one every 291 minutes of action - and he missed out on England's squad for the World Cup.

READ: The sign that Sancho’s Man Utd career may be over

With Antony signed from for €100m this summer, Cody Gakpo targeted from PSV Eindhoven, and Alejandro Garnacho on the rise, Sancho's future at Old Trafford is beginning to look bleak, and he didn't even make their mid-season trip to Spain.

"He wasn't fit enough to be there," said Erik ten Hag. "It's a combination of physically and mentally…"

But Sancho's former England youth coach Paul Simpson thinks the winger still has a future at Old Trafford, as long as he puts the work in.

READ: Man Utd to loan out Sancho?

Simpson: 'He's got to work hard'

"Jadon's 22 years old and he's got a loads of football ahead of him," Simpson, now manager at Carlisle, told the Daily Mail. "He's at football club with a group of staff there who'll look after him. It then has to come down to Jadon, he's got to do the work to get himself of back in the team.

"He hasn't become a bad footballer overnight. He's obviously just hit the first bump in the road for a young person and I hope he comes through it because he's got as much ability as any player; he's a fantastic footballer.

"It's now just about doing what Erik ten Hag wants him to do, getting himself into a better place and I'm quite sure we'll see a lot more of Jadon Sancho."