Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho England warm-up Oct20

Jadon Sancho was one of the most exciting young players in world football, but after a big move to Manchester United didn't work out he is now on loan at Chelsea.

Jadon Sancho is an English winger for Manchester United, currently on loan at Chelsea.

Previously, he played in the youth soccer setups at Watford and Manchester City before a move to Borussia Dortmund.

The England international spent four seasons with the Bundesliga side from 2017 where he made 137 appearances and scored 50 goals in his first spell.

He made a big-money move to Manchester United in July 2021, where he had made 82 appearances and scored 12 goals.

But he was banished from the first team since publicly hitting out at manager Erik ten Hag following the Red Devils’ defeat at Arsenal in September 2023.

In January 2024, he returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the season and then was shippped out to Chelsea on loan for the 2024/25 campaign.

Sancho won the 2021 DFB Pokal with Dortmund and the 2023 League Cup at Manchester United.

 

Early years and Manchester City

Sancho was picked up by Manchester City at the age of 14 in March 2015. He had spent eight years on the books of Watford prior to his move up north. The initial fee was reportedly £66,000, potentially rising to £500,000 with add-ons.

Sancho impressed in the Manchester City academy and looked set to be fast-tracked into the first team in 2017.

However, ahead of the 2017/18 season, a dispute erupted between Sancho and City over assurances regarding playing time in a new contract.

According to widespread reports, Sancho stopped training with Manchester City in a bid to force a move away from the club and he was omitted from their pre-season tour.

Despite reported interest from the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Sancho opted to move abroad, signing for Borussia Dortmund on August 31, 2017 for a reported fee of around £8million.

"I was obviously playing in England, and I would've never thought in a million years that my path would take me to Germany," Sancho said to Pro Direct Soccer. "So when they came in, I was like, 'this is mad interesting. Am I ready for this mad step to go to Germany or am I not ready yet?'"
 

 

Jadon Sancho and Borussia Dortmund

Sancho immediately joined up with the first team squad at Borussia Dortmund and made his Bundesliga debut against Eintracht Frankfurt on October 21, 2017, coming off the bench to become the first Englishman to play for Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

Sancho made his first Bundesliga start against VfL Wolfsburg on January 14, 2018 and hit the post in a 0-0 tie. On April 21, he picked up a goal and two assists in a 4-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen.

The 2017/18 season was a tough one for Dortmund as they finished fourth in the Bundesliga with 55 points, a whopping 29 behind champions Bayern Munich. Sancho made 12 appearances, scoring once and claiming four assists. Peter Bosz was sacked as manager midway through the season and his successor, Peter Stoger, departed in May 2018.

Lucien Favre became the new Dortmund coach and Sancho flourished under his guidance. In 2018/19, Sancho played 43 matches in all competitions, scoring 13 goals.

The 2019/20 season was even more prolific for Sancho as he played in 44 matches, scoring 20 goals. He was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United. However, nothing materialised that summer.

Lucien Favre was sacked as Borussia Dortmund coach in December 2020 following a 5-1 defeat to VfB Stuttgart. Edin Terzic was appointed caretaker manager and has been tasked with turning around Dortmund's fortunes and bringing the best out of Sancho.

 

Struggles at Manchester United

Jadon Sancho celebrates after scoring for Manchester United

During his time in Germany, Sancho became a highly sought-after player back in the Premier League.

Manchester United and Liverpool were repeatedly linked, but it was the Red Devils who always appeared to make him a priority.

After a failed bid to sign him in the summer of 2020, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund eventually agreed a £73million fee to take him to Old Trafford with the deal to be completed after his involvement for England in Euro 2020.

The signing was made official on July 23, weeks after it was reported and everyone knew it was a done deal.

But things didn't work out as he struggled to make a big impression at Old Trafford.

The 23-year-old winger claimed on social media in September 2023 that he had been made a “scapegoat” after boss Erik ten Hag said he did not reach the “level” required to be involved in their squad at Arsenal.

United later confirmed Sancho would train away from the first-team group “pending resolution of a squad discipline issue”, but a settlement between player and manager was never reached.

The England international was banished from the first team for four months before eventually returning to Dortmund on a temporary basis in January 2024.

Sancho made the last of his 82 United appearances in August against Nottingham Forest – one of just three games he has played in the 2023/24 season.

Back in Germany, Sancho made 21 appearances and scored three goals across all competitions for Dortmund and started the 2024 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.

Sancho returned to Manchester United in the summer and appeared to have made up with Ten Hag as he took part in United’s pre-season and played in the Community Shield, but on deadline day he joined Chelsea on loan with an obligation to buy.

 

Jadon Sancho and England

Sancho has played for England at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-19 levels. In 2017, England made the final of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Croatia, losing to Spain on penalties after a 2-2 tie. Sancho was named Player of the Tournament.

At the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India later in 2017, Sancho and England won the tournament, beating Spain 5-2 in the final.

Sancho received his first senior England call-up on October 4, 2018 as Gareth Southgate prepared his charges for the UEFA Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain. He made his debut against the former in a 0-0 tie eight days later.

He scored his first two goals for England in a 5-3 win over Kosovo in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier on September 10, 2019, drawing praise from England team-mate Raheem Sterling.

"He was in my room at 10.30pm last night begging for me to square one to him," Sterling said.

"So, I was really happy to see him score his first one. He's a good kid.

"Even when I was at that age, I wasn't doing some of the things he's doing. He's really professional."

Sancho added to his tally with a goal against the Republic of Ireland in a 3-0 friendly win in November 2020.
 
Wembley white kit
Sancho came on as a substitute in England's 1-0 win over the Czech Republic at Euro 2020. He also played the full 90 minutes in the 4-0 defeat of Ukraine in the quarter-finals.

Sancho was not used in the semi-final against Denmark, but he did get on the pitch against Italy in the final in the closing minutes of extra-time.

Sadly, it would end in heartbreak for Sancho, with him one of three England players to miss in the penalty shootout that handed the title to the Italians.
 
Sancho was not selected in England's Euro 2024 squad.

 

Jadon Sancho, social media and endorsements

Sancho has more than five million followers on Instagram, 311,000 likes on his official Facebook page and half a million followers on Twitter. Sancho is signed to talent management company Elite Project Group.

 

Personal life

Sancho revealed to Pro Direct Soccer that a wake-up call while he was on the books of Watford helped him change his behavior, which had initially been a problem in boarding school.

"When I left home in year 7, I think that was the toughest year for me. I had never left my mom or my sisters or anyone," said Sancho. "All I knew was south-east London so I didn't know how to adapt. That first year I was getting detention like nearly every week. My head was gone because I was just missing everyone.

"Then I had a wake-up call because in year 8, Watford came to me and said, 'if you don't fix your attitude, we have no choice but to release you.' From there I just changed."

Sancho was born in Camberwell, Greater London to parents from Trinidad and Tobago. He was a childhood friend of Reiss Nelson, who played for Arsenal and enjoyed a loan stint in the Bundesliga with 1899 Hoffenheim.
Sancho reportedly grew up supporting Chelsea.

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