One of the longest transfer sagas in recent times has come to an end after Manchester United announced that they have reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund for Jadon Sancho.
The 21-year-old joins for a fee in the region of £73m and has signed a five-year deal, with the option of another 12 months.
Sancho has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting players since moving to Germany, but what exactly will he bring to the Red Devils, where does he fit in and what impact will he have in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions in this Scout Report.
HISTORY AND STATISTICS
“I asked him, what’s the dream? He looked me in the eye and said he wanted to play for one of Europe’s top clubs and represent his country to make his family proud.”
Louis Lancaster, former Watford youth coach
Sancho’s youth career began at Watford, before his outstanding talent brought him to Manchester City at the age of 14. Having impressed in the academy, he looked all set to join the senior set-up, but a contractual dispute saw him make the bold choice of moving to Germany.
He joined Dortmund, a club renowned for giving rookies a chance, and has since developed into one of the best young players in world football.
Since making his debut with the Bundesliga club in 2017, he has gone on to score 50 goals in 137 appearances in all competitions, and has now delivered three seasons of elite production.
Indeed, it’s hard to find another Englishman who can match his attacking output since 2018/19:
BUNDESLIGA STATISTICS SINCE 2018-19
| Season | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 2018/19 | 26 (8) | 12 | 14 |
| 2019/20 | 25 (7) | 17 | 16 |
| 2020/21 | 24 (2) | 8 | 11 |
The German top flight is different to England, of course, and we’ve seen the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz struggle to adapt in the Premier League after posting eye-catching numbers in the Bundesliga.
At international level, he has had to settle for a peripheral role at EURO 2020 so far, but clearly has a bright future and it surely won’t be long before he adds to his 20 senior caps and three goals.
PROFILE
“He manages to create dangerous situations with his technique, his speed, his dribbling. There are other dribblers with similar qualities in the Bundesliga, but they don’t have his outstanding decision-making.”
Thomas Müller
Sancho is a quick, attacking winger who can get fans on their feet.
He has been used on both flanks at Dortmund, but largely on the right, which is where he will probably be stationed at United, at least initially.
A real risk-taker in the final third, he is as much a creator as he is a scorer, and last season alone, ranked in the top five players in the Bundesliga for assists, chances created and big chances created – a feat made all the more impressive considering that he wasn’t on the pitch for eight top-flight matches, mostly due to injury.
| Total | Rank v other Bundesliga players | |
| Shots | 52 | 26th= |
| Shots on target | 17 | 43rd= |
| Expected goals (xG) | 7.4 | 19th= |
| Non-penalty expected goals (non-pen xG) | 6.6 | 22nd |
| Chances created | 67 | 5th |
| Big chances created | 14 | 3rd |
| Expected assists (xA) | 6.8 | 7th= |
Above figures taken from whoscored, fbref and sofascore
Another important factor to consider is how good he is at progressing the ball up the pitch, something United have sometimes struggled with under Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
“I’m a bit tricky, direct, confident – I believe in myself in one-on-one situations”.
Jadon Sancho
2 years, 9 months agoWas waiting for this article, glad you wrote it Tom!
Too bad it's for members only 🙁