Manchester United signed Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund for £73m last summer, but the 22-year-old hasn’t lived up to expectations at Old Trafford. The Red Devils agreed a five-year deal worth £18.2m-a-year/£350k-per-week, but Sancho has only mustered five goals and three assists from 38 games in his debut season.
The England international has two Premier League goals since the turn of the year, firing blanks in 12/15 games. Fred has scored more times in the league (4) than Sancho while Jesse Lingard (2), Harry Maguire (2) and Scott McTominay (2) are only one behind in all competitions. United should be worried.
Ralf Rangnick was candid when talking about Sancho’s struggles, attributing them to a lack of confidence, pressure to live up to the price tag while hinting at a weak mentality, which didn’t go down too well with Sancho. But if the club can’t identify the problem and come up with a solution, they’ll have another expensive player who isn’t contributing but can’t be sold.
The 22-year-old is currently out with tonsilitis and may not feature again this campaign either, so it’s been a forgettable first year. Erik ten Haag will take over from Rangnick this summer which presents Sancho the chance to start again under a new manager.
He scored 50 goals with 64 assists from 137 games at Borussia Dortmund (2017 – 2021) but hasn’t had the same fortunes back in England. And that’s not for the lack of trying. Sancho has played in 29 of United’s 35 league games (83%) and all but one of their eight Champions League bouts (87.5%), so the club have tried to give him as many opportunities as possible to turn things around.
It hasn’t worked, however.
Sancho’s woes aren’t exclusive either. United are coming off the back of three defeats and a draw from their last five games and reports suggest a number of players are unhappy at the current state of affairs. Until the atmosphere improves, form may remain poor in the squad.
