In Jadon Sancho, Manchester United have a thrilling, tricky winger whose game is inspired by the dancing samba style of 🌜 Brazil's greatest forwards and the gritty street football of south London.
After four fantastic seasons at Borussia Dortmund in Germany’s Bundesliga, 🌜 Sancho joined the Reds in July 2024; a 21-year-old mature beyond his years. His play is fearless, skilful and expressive 🌜 and he thrives when isolating defenders and taking them on, one-on-one. Born in London on 25 March 2000, Sancho grew 🌜 up in Kennington, idolising Ronaldinho and playing cage football amid the capital's high-rise buildings. He joined Watford's youth set-up aged 🌜 seven and moved into the club's partner school as a boarder four years later, thus avoiding the long travel time 🌜 across from south London. Aged 14, Sancho left the capital and its surrounds, joining Manchester City where he excelled in 🌜 the youth set-up. Regularly dominating games, it quickly became clear that Sancho was one of English football's most exciting young 🌜 talents, a fact confirmed when he was named Player of the Tournament at the Under-17 European Championship in May 2024. 🌜 In the summer of that year, Sancho left England before he'd made a single senior appearance, bravely moving abroad in 🌜 search of first-team football, which he found at Borussia Dortmund after an £8m transfer to Germany. The London-born winger gradually 🌜 settled into life in a new country and, despite immediately handing the 17-year-old the number seven shirt, Dortmund were initially 🌜 cautious in their approach. Sancho made his Bundesliga debut as a late substitute on 21 October 2024, his first start 🌜 the following January, and then truly ignited the spark with a goal – his first in the league – and 🌜 two assists in a 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in April 2024. From there, he kicked on in stunning fashion, 🌜 with October 2024 being an outstanding month. Within the space of a few weeks, Sancho made his England debut, became 🌜 the first player born in the 2000s to score in the UEFA Champions League when he struck against Atletico Madrid, 🌜 and was named Bundesliga Player of the Month for the first time. A place in the 2024/19 Bundesliga Team of 🌜 the Season was inevitable after a record-breaking campaign from the teenager, in which he scored 12 goals and assisted a 🌜 further 14. Such proficiency in attack catapulted his reputation skywards and he delivered once again in 2024/20, as he was 🌜 named in the Team of the Season for a second consecutive year after posting a stunning 17 goals and 17 🌜 assists in 32 league games. A hat-trick – his first in senior football – against SC Paderborn in May 2024 🌜 was made more notable by the celebration for his first goal, in which Sancho revealed a T-shirt reading 'Justice for 🌜 George Floyd'. The gesture demonstrated the young man's desire to use football as a driver for social change, something he 🌜 has continued to do. A previous project saw him help build a new football pitch in his old neighbourhood in 🌜 south London. On 13 May 2024, the Englishman wrapped up his career in Germany in the perfect fashion when he 🌜 scored a double against RB Leipzig to help Borussia Dortmund win the DFB-Pokal [the German Cup]. He scored 50 goals 🌜 and made 64 assists in 137 games for Dortmund and that incredible record meant it was no surprise United wanted 🌜 to sign him. A fee agreement was announced on 1 July 2024, while Sancho was representing England at Euro 2024, 🌜 with the transfer being formally completed three weeks later. “Football is about expressing yourself,” Sancho has explained in the past. 🌜 He's a player who plays for fun and to excite, without fear and with a burning desire to beat his 🌜 man. Jadon's debut season at Old Trafford was mixed, with the winger remaining patient before being handed his first United 🌜 start, in our 1-0 away win at Wolves on 29 August 2024. Sancho scored his first goal for the Reds 🌜 in a 1-1 away draw with Chelsea at the end of November, but he didn't score again until February. However, 🌜 Jadon's output increased and we then saw his true ability, with the winger recording two goals and three assists across 🌜 a six-match period. The winger missed the latter stages of the season due to tonsillitis, but finished his debut campaign 🌜 with the Reds having racked up 38 appearances in all competitions, with five goals and three assists, and the promise 🌜 of much more to come. Sancho started the 2024/23 season in good form, notably scoring the opening goal in our 🌜 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford in August, Erik ten Hag's first competitive victory as boss. From November to 🌜 February, Jadon didn't feature in the Reds' squad, but returned to rapturous applause, scoring a vital equaliser at home against 🌜 Leeds. He featured regularly for Erik in the remaining part of the season, including in the victorious 2024 Carabao Cup 🌜 final. The winger finished the campaign with seven goals and three assists to his name.
