Well, we should have seen this one coming. Borussia Dortmund could not miss an opportunity to ride the high gained from Jadon Sancho’s big performance.
Last night Jadon Sancho produced his best game of the 2023/24 season, or half a season as it has been for him, for Borussia Dortmund against Paris Saint-Germain.
Credit to him, he delivered on the big stage in the Champions League semi-final first leg. He has to do it all again next week in France, but so far, so good for Sancho.
Sancho completed 12 successful dribbles during Dortmund’s 1-0 win, numbers not seen as this stage of the Champions League since Lionel Messi back in 2008, a defeat against United.
Dortmund revel in Sancho brilliance
This was the game Borussia Dortmund and Jadon Sancho had been waiting for. There were no goals or assists from him, but watch it, and wow, it was like a different player from the one we saw in Manchester.
Dortmund could not resist the chance to poke fun at his doubters, and by association, Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag.
The German side posted on X: “You all owe him an apology, we were ALWAYS familiar with his game.”
Considering Dortmund have Sancho on loan, as a favour, it was in poor taste to try and rub United’s nose in his success.
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Dortmund miss the point
Dortmund are fine to be proud of Jadon Sancho, but where Manchester United are concerned, the club believed in him enough to pay £73 million. They were very ‘familiar’ with what he was capable of.
If Dortmund aren’t careful, at this rate Manchester United will start asking for the same kind of fee back.
Sancho’s talent was not in doubt. Erik ten Hag even spoke out to praise his ability in his press conference a fortnight ago.
What was lacking was Sancho’s commitment to the Manchester United cause. He could not put his pride aside to apologise to the manager after he hit out at him on social media at the start of September.
A tough few months followed for all concerned, and Sancho returned to Dortmund, his happy place. He might never want to leave.
Dortmund’s message implies United mishandled and mistreated Sancho. At best, that’s only half-true.
United made exceptions for him, allowing him to spend time at an individual training camp in the Netherlands last season, missing games.
He started 41 Premier League games in two seasons, with a further 15 appearances from the bench. In those 56 appearances, he contributed only nine goals.
Dortmund clearly value him very highly, so it will be interesting to see what they are prepared to pay this summer, and whether they are prepared to break their own transfer record to buy him.