Sancho's dream Dortmund return is quickly becoming a nightmare

Tom Weber

• Updated: 26 Feb 2024 20:48 GMT
• 4 min read

Jadon Sancho's form is starting to become a major issue for an underperforming Borussia Dortmund.

How quickly things can change in football. After the winter break and January transfer window, Borussia Dortmund fans were euphoric. Their club had managed to snap up two highly-rated players from two massive clubs in Ian Maatsen and Jadon Sancho from Chelsea and Man Utd, respectively.

Sancho, of course, was a familiar face. It was the return of the prodigal son. The erstwhile Black and Yellow wonderkid failed to continue his upward career trajectory after leaving Germany, becoming a major €85 million flop at Man Utd before falling out with head coach Erik ten Hag.

The 23-year-old, upon learning of Dortmund's interest, had begun to heavily push for a move to free him from his Man Utd misery after having been exiled from the first-team by Ten Hag. Dortmund managed to pull off a loan deal on favourable terms and it seemed almost too good to be true.

Despite some rustiness due to not having played since the summer, Sancho immediately showed promising signs back in a BVB shirt. This was good news for a Dortmund side keen to redeem themselves after a poor first half of the season and Man Utd, who want Sancho to boost his transfer value so that they can cash in on him in the summer.

Sancho's worrying form

Since this promising start, however, things have quickly gone downhill. Though he has notched two assists, the winger is still searching for his first goal and, crucially, for match sharpness and form.

Seven games into his Dortmund return, Sancho still looks rusty and largely ineffective. Dortmund's drop in performance levels has gone hand in hand with Sancho's. The Black and Yellow are winless in three, losing 3-2 to Hoffenheim at the weekend, and Sancho hasn't been involved in a goal since his second game.

Local outlet Der Westen blasted Sancho's showing against Hoffenheim, writing: "The BVB star had another poor performance against Hoffenheim and was probably the worst player on the pitch." Kicker gave Sancho a dreadful match rating of 4.5 out of 6 (the rating is based on German school grades, with 6 being the worst).

Dortmund are now a whopping 20 points adrift of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and Sancho's form is starting to become a major worry, with head coach Edin Terzic already expressing concerns about his outings after last week's Champions League draw with PSV.

At this point, Sancho's form is vindicating Erik ten Hag, but that's not necessarily a good thing. The Englishman's Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is still steadily dropping, having fallen by some €70m since his switch to Old Trafford, making it increasingly unlikely that the Red Devils will be able to recoup anything close to their original outlay in the summer.