COMMENT: Die Gelbe Wand has been bouncing this week. The news has spread like wildfire through Dortmund. Not only has Jadon Sancho’s return been raised, it’s actually the Manchester United winger who is driving it…
It’s a watershed. There’s no doubt about that. Jadon Sancho is facing a career watershed this summer. And reading events over the past week, it’s becoming clear that he realises as much.
Two years on from leaving Borussia Dortmund and the Westfalenstadion, he could now return. Indeed, if it was up to him, he would return. Two years at Old Trafford has left his career at a standstill – if we’re being kind. The reality is, as a Manchester United player, Sancho has gone backwards. No longer a first-choice. No longer an England international. Now 23, he’s at a career crossroads. And to be fair, it does appear he’s ready to take action.
The news out of Germany is Sancho’s camp have let Dortmund know he’d welcome a return. The form of transfer doesn’t matter. He just wants to get out of Carrington and play. And on Dortmund’s part, the response has been positive. Indeed, enthusiastic. Even as they sit top of the Bundesliga table, there’s an acknowledgement inside the club that Sancho has never been adequately replaced. Former United youth teamer Donyell Malen has made an impact in the ‘Sancho role’ but not to the extent of their former No7.
So this could happen. This move, which already has Dortmund fans buzzing, could actually be pulled off. Certainly, Sancho’s camp believe there’ll be little pushback from United should Dortmund make a formal approach. An outright transfer, Dortmund has let it be known, is out of the question. Getting anywhere near close to the €85m they raked in for Sancho is way beyond Dortmund’s means. Instead a loan arrangement will be raised – which could yet suit both parties.
At United, it must be said, Sancho has more supporters inside the board room, than actually inside Carrington. Nothing to do with attitude. Nor personality. But Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff don’t see it. For the moment, they don’t see an €85m player in Jadon Sancho.
They’ve tried, of course. They’ve both tried, have Ten Hag and Sancho. The withdrawal from first team duties. The personal training. The dark, damp stint at OJC Rosmalen in December. Sancho has done all that Ten Hag has asked of him – willingly. But it just hasn’t happened for him. The training ground form is “good”, we’ve been told, without it “being electric”. Which has, as we’ve all seen, mirrored the matchday form: more solid than spectacular. A contributor, yes, but not meeting the expectations of an €85m senior England international at 23 years of age. Not even close.
For this column, we’d argue there’s a player in there. An €85m player. And we can say, Ten Hag agrees. But we’re talking potential. ‘What ifs’. And the problem for Sancho and his camp is that at the level Ten Hag is working at, he can longer afford to work on promise. The patience. The lenience. Sancho has moved beyond such parameters. Such an approach is now afforded those coming up behind him… Alejandro Garnacho… Kobbie Mainoo. Ten Hag can’t afford to offer the same leeway he does Garnacho to a senior pro like Sancho is now.
But there’s a player in there. The issue is that Sancho has hit a trough. A valley. Before United. Before being charmed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Sancho’s career was a set of ever rising peaks. From Watford to Manchester City. To Dortmund. To England. To United. Sancho cycled through the levels with ease. Every challenge he met. Every step he took without stumbling. It was all so, so easy.
But now he’s hit that trough. And it’s now a test of his mentality to find a way through it. Every player experiences this. It’s not ability. It’s not talent. Instead it’s a question of how Sancho finds way inside him to get back up after taking such a hit.
Sancho is a Premier League player. He’s a Champions League player. This isn’t his entourage claiming this. This is from the coaching staff at Carrington. They know the talent. They see it. Recognise it. But old timers who’ve worked those pitches over the years have also seen plenty of players of Sancho’s potential fall away as they hit their first, genuine career doubt.
Familiar faces. Happier memories. A status re-established. A return to Dortmund could revive Sancho’s career. Though we must recall they said the same about Shinji Kagawa a good ten years ago. A fantastic talent, but one who would return to Signal Iduna Park never quite the same.
It will be a gamble. Ten Hag, it must be said, will move on. He will fill Sancho’s place with another wide player. Even if he were to pull up some trees back in Germany, his career as a United player could be over.
But it’s a move you fancy he must make. And it’s why the running has been initiated from the player’s side. Jadon Sancho’s career is facing a watershed. He knows something has to give.
