According to Sky in Germany, Jadon Sancho will leave Borussia Dortmund this summer. Reporter Jesco Von Eichmann has said “he will leave Dortmund this summer, that’s for sure” and even went on to say Manchester United are one of the sides who have registered an interest.
It seems the Red Devils are the most logical club to link Sancho to, but there are most certainly others at the table. First, let’s take a look at the meteoric rise to stardom this boy has had!
The rise of Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho joined Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City back in summer 2017 having never made an appearance for the City senior team. Despite that, he still fetched a £7m figure, showing just how highly rated a player he was.
It seems as though he’s been around for a good while now, but despite having been a Dortmund regular since his first season in Germany, he’s still only 19-years-old – which is frankly ridiculous.
From his first season in German football, the talent was clear. This is a boy who had never stepped foot onto a Premier League football pitch – and yet despite that, here he is stepping off the Dortmund first team bus for Bundesliga matches less than a month after signing for them.
He made his debut in October 2017 against Eintracht Frankfurt, coming on off the bench for the dying embers of the game. In April 2018, he bagged his first goal for the Yellow and Black, scoring and assisting twice in a 4-0 rout over Bayer Leverkusen.
Since then, he’s gone from strength to strength and this season, he’s by far the most productive member of a Dortmund squad that boasts names like Marco Reus and Erling Braut Haaland. He’s bagged 15 goals and 17 assists across all competitions this year – leading the squad in both.
He ranks first in goals, assists, key passes per game and dribbles per game this season and has been directly involved in a whopping 44% of all of the goals Dortmund have scored in the league.
When compared with Raheem Sterling, the stats are quite remarkably similar – although Sterling outdoes him slightly.
Since the start of the 2017/18 season, Jadon Sancho has 84 appearances, 29 goals and 40 assists (69 total goal involvements) in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Sterling has 90 appearances, 46 goals and 29 assists (75 Total goal involvements) in the Premier League.
When you consider that Sterling has been part of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, team in Premier League history during that time – and you consider that Sterling is in his mid-twenties and is thus, a much more developed player, it’s remarkable how close these figures actually are.
Sancho, at 19-years-old, has the world at his feet and I am in no doubt that by the time he reaches the age Sterling is at now (25), he’ll be one of the best players on the planet – for me, he’s already halfway there.
So then, where will he land?
Manchester United
Man United have been repeatedly linked with Sancho’s signature this season, and with these rumours now coming to the surface, you can expect that to ramp up again. United could sure do with a player of his calibre – but he will no doubt cost them a fair amount!
Their options on the wings outside Marcus Rashford and Daniel James are pretty limited, so it would be great for them to have a top quality out-and-out wide player like Jadon Sancho.
His creativity from the wings would link up brilliantly with Bruno Fernandes in the centre of the park, and if they can get a decent number nine through the door too, someone like Raul Jimenez of Wolves, then they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in attack.
Liverpool
Liverpool have been heavily linked Jadon Sancho too, but I personally don’t see this being a wise move for the 19-year-old unless one of the fabled Liverpool front three move on this summer.
He’d be the perfect replacement for a Mo Salah or a Sadio Mane, but you can’t seriously tell me you expect Jadon Sancho to go from being the star player at one of the biggest clubs in Germany to sitting on Liverpool’s bench.
That Liverpool front three are outstanding, and I struggle to see which one of them you could possibly drop in favour of Sancho. Therefore, unless Salah or Mane leave Anfield this summer, Sancho would be wise to steer well clear of Merseyside.
Chelsea
Another potential option for Jadon Sancho is to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor on the wing at Dortmund, Christian Pulisic, in a move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have options on the wing in the shape of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Pulisic and Pedro – although the latter has made just 13 appearances all season and will likely ship out in the summer.
Manager Frank Lampard is very much a believer in promoting youth, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the likes of Willian ship out in the summer in favour of bringing in young talent like Sancho.
I can see it now, Mason Mount playing behind Tammy Abraham, with Jadon Sancho on the right and Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left – England youth in the blue of Chelsea.
Other Possible Mentions?
Other than that, there aren’t really that many teams who could afford a player like Sancho. Maybe PSG? I could see him ending up there if Kylian Mbappe does as many expect him to and moves on this summer. Maybe a return to Manchester City – that would certainly be very interesting to see.
As I say, there’s not that many teams who can actually afford the services of Jadon Sancho, so his options will be limited – but they’ll be limited to the worlds elite clubs. For me, I think he’ll end up at Manchester United, but personally I’d like to see him stay in Germany.
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All statistics in this article were taken from WhoScored.com and TransferMarkt.com.