It's a trap! Why Man Utd should not be fooled by Sancho's Dortmund form

Suraj Radia

• 14 Mar 2024 22:14 GMT
• 4 min read

Jadon Sancho has started to show glimpses of his former self while back on loan at Dortmund but Manchester United should not get carried away by the winger’s seemingly return to form.

Sancho re-joined Dortmund in January on loan until the end of the season following a fallout with United manager Erik ten Hag, with the 23-year-old having been exiled after refusing to apologise for his role in the bust up.

Prior to his loan at Dortmund, Sancho had not played football since coming off the bench for United's opening three games of the season in August and the England international appears to have finally shaken off the rust with his recent displays.

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Having assisted on his debut for Dortmund, Sancho went seven games without a goal contribution but he has since scored in back-to-back matches, first against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga followed by a strike versus PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

Sancho’s redemption arc has led to Dortmund admitting their interest in keeping hold of their fan favourite for another year, while United supporters have bemoaned seeing one of their stars in form after their struggles this season.

But Sancho’s chances of returning to Old Trafford appears to be slim while Ten Hag still remains in charge and his return to form would better be used as an opportunity for United to cash in on a player who clearly isn’t the answer instead of trying to fix a broken relationship.

Inconsistent Sancho not reliable enough to erase Old Trafford demons

United believed they had pulled off a coup when they signed Sancho from Dortmund for €85 million in 2021, such was the hype surrounding the youngster after four impressive years in Germany.

Despite scoring 50 times and grabbing 65 assists in 147 games for Dortmund at a rate of a goal contribution every 1.2 games, that number sharply decayed to 4.5 at United, with just 18 involvements in 82 matches.

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Indeed, Sancho was given a host of opportunities to impress at United with different managers and teammates but he never showed consistent end product during his time in the Premier League, with his pace and work rate often coming into question.

While no-one could expect Sancho to be the finished product at his age, his apparent lax approach to training saw him criticised by multiple figures at Old Trafford, both on and off the record.

Dortmund themselves admitted they used to tell Sancho that training started earlier in the day so that he would come on time, such was his tendency to be late.

There is not a future for Sancho at United under Ten Hag and, while the Dutchman may not be at the helm for much longer, any potential replacement will likely not take long to come to the same conclusion as their predecessor.

If Man Utd have any ambitions of upholding standards then Sancho has proven he cannot be relied on as a top level player or a professional no matter how he performs away from the club.