No World Cup, dropped by Man Utd: What's gone wrong for Sancho?

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 4 min read

Jadon Sancho was seen as England's brightest young talent two short seasons ago. Now he will be watching the World Cup from home with his Manchester United place at risk. Where has it gone wrong for the 22-year-old?

Sancho swapped Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund as a 17-year-old in 2017 and was quickly held up as a poster boy for frustrated English youngsters who should try their hand at German football.

While his friend and former teammate Phil Foden was struggling to break into City's first-team, Sancho was soon tearing up the Bundesliga, and had 30 goal-involvements from 34 games in his first full top-flight campaign, by which point Foden had just three Premier League starts to his name.

READ: Trent in, Sancho out: England World Cup squad announced

Other German clubs soon tried to copy the model. Bayern Munich had a €60m bid for Callum Hudson Odoi turned down by Chelsea. Schalke signed Rabbi Matondo, a Welshman, from City's youth academy. Dortmund themselves have since gone back to the same source for their "next Sancho" in Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.

Trail sufficiently blazed, Sancho returned to England with an €85m transfer to Manchester United in the summer of 2021, amid much fanfare.

Dream come true?

"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," Sancho said at the time. The chance to join Manchester United is a dream come true and I just cannot wait to perform in the Premier League."

But that dream has quickly turned into a nightmare. Sancho had 50 goals and 64 assists all told in Germany. He has eight goals and four assists in England, albeit in a season less.

READ: Sancho at United vs. Haaland at City: proof positive the Manchester sides have swapped places

Cristiano Ronaldo was signed the same summer as Sancho, and although his own Old Trafford adventure has now gone sour second time around, his arrival quickly overshadowed Sancho's.

That has been put forward by some as a reason Sancho's form has taken a hit, but he did just fine next to Erling Haaland in his final Dortmund season. Tactically, having a striker next to him shouldn't harm Sancho, and in terms of profile, his Dortmund journey showed he was happy to fly in under the radar before exploding into the limelight with his performances.

In truth, it remains a mystery what has happened to Sancho, and he still has time to sort it out. But he has only played 72 minutes for England since moving to Man Utd, and he is not about to get the chance to add to that in Qatar.