Charles Jackson
Twelve dribbles later and the possibilities for Jadon Sancho seem endless. A return to your hometown for the Champions League final? He and Borussia Dortmund are more likely to repeat the impressive performance of Wednesday’s 1-0 first-leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain. An extended stay in Germany over the summer, covering the European Championships? You’re getting 26-man squads now, Gareth, time to grab a flyer. A fresh start for the youngster who was at the forefront of England’s talent explosion? It feels more real now than at any time since he entered the vortex of talent desecration that is Manchester United.
Typically, when players return to their old stomping grounds looking to kickstart a stagnant career, it tends to be a move that only heightens the realization that they can’t go back to where they were. Maybe they’ve lost their energy, maybe their desire to prove themselves isn’t what it was, or they just don’t fit in with the game as it’s played anymore. That’s what made Sancho’s evisceration of Nuno Mendes so moving. It was as if Edin Terzic had returned through a rift in the space-time continuum at the Westfalenstadion and returned with Sancho Mk.1, version 2020.
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PSG had no way of stopping him. You haven’t seen a defense mesmerized like this since, well, since Jalen Brunson set up the Sixers (Knicks in six! Knicks in six!). Bouncy and surprising, the Camberwell boy was completely unreadable to defenders. Just like Brunson, Sancho doesn’t need to beat you by pushing the ball forward and past you. Why do that when he has everything he needs in his bag to leave you a wreck, trapped with the knowledge that you have no idea if he’s heading left, right, toward you, or away?
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Sancho’s 13 completed games were the most in a Champions League semi-final since Lionel Messi joined Manchester United in 2008. It was the most anyone has completed in a game in Europe’s top five leagues and the Champions League during all season. Typically, when players attempt 18 dribbles in a night, the success rate tends to be low, mitigated by the fact that they only have to escape once or twice to wreak havoc on the defense. Sancho was better than that. He stayed at PSG and kept winning. Here at CBS Sports, we have data on every Champions League game since the start of the 2020-21 season. In that period, no one has attempted more than 15 attempts and been as successful as Sancho. Neither Neymar or Messi.
This is the Sancho we know, the one the Premier League was salivating over during his first spell at Dortmund. Just the 75 minutes of this semi-final first leg are enough to dispel the question that Rio Ferdinand was one of many to ask at the final whistle: “I want to know what happened at Man United. Why didn’t it go well there?”
He must surely know the answer. We are talking about Manchester United Football Club. His ability to stop young talent, whether imported (Donny van de Beek, Memphis Depay, Paul Pogba) or local (Adnan Januzaj, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba) is unparalleled. All that remains to be resolved is whether the blame for Sancho’s struggles lies with Erik ten Hag’s management or a wider club structure that evidently does not put new signings in a position to shine.
The natural question for Sancho was what might happen next, but his love of the Yellow Wall – shared by Jamie Carragher – is such that he can hardly be blamed for putting the idea of returning to Old Trafford out of his mind. Asked by Peter Schmeichel what the future holds for him, he said: “I don’t really know, but I’m just focused on impressing at the moment.”
He must be aware that those he should be focusing on are not at Manchester United. Sancho is among the majority of the first-team squad his parent club are looking to move this summer, according to CBS Sports sources. Recovering the $90 million transfer fee they paid Dortmund three years ago certainly won’t happen, but games like Wednesday’s are a reminder that the Red Devils weren’t crazy for deeming Sancho worthy of such an exorbitant price. When he can be so good after so many months stunted before returning in January, United must feel they have made a cataclysmic mistake. Fortunately for Sancho, it may be his club that bears the brunt of this disaster and not him.
