They just couldn’t miss an opportunity to rub Manchester United fans’ noses in it, could they?
After the Red Devils misfit produced his best performance since that £73 million move to Old Trafford three years ago, Borussia Dortmund – via their official X account – posted a photo of Jadon Sancho on one of his weaving runs, accompanied with a caption almost designed to rub Manchester United supporters up the wrong way.
“You all owe him an apology. We were ALWAYS familiar with his game.”
We can only assume you will remember that, Dortmund, when the time comes to stump up for Sancho in the summer, then?
Jadon Sancho produces ‘magic’ Champions League display
The Englishman’s highly-underwhelming time in the red of Man United was never really an issue of ability, even if dazzling, twinkle-toed performances like the one he produced in Dortmund’s 1-0 Champions League semi-final win over PSG were certainly few and far between, a man who looked like he couldn’t outpace a mannequin at United completing 13 dribbles on the night.
It certainly doesn’t feel like Sancho who deserves the ‘apology’. Lest we forget, for all the blame apportioned to Erik ten Hag, this was a player who failed to deliver under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. Lest we forget it was Ten Hag who gave Sancho months of paid leave and carefully integrated him back into the first-team squad, only to see his efforts thrown back in his face by a player who could clearly do with investing in an alarm clock.
Manchester United exit still feels inevitable
Yes, Sancho was superb, sublime, supreme, whatever adjective you might want to use as Dortmund moved to within 90 minutes of the Champions League final. But we all knew he was capable of displays like this.
Unless Jason Wilcox can mediate the situation – he worked with Sancho at Man City – or unless a fresh start comes his way following Ten Hag’s potential departure, the 24-year-old still looks likely to be sold in the summer.
In truth, he will not be missed by the majority on the Old Trafford terraces. And one stand-out display in a hit-and-miss, five-month loan spell is not going to change that.
“I’m looking at his body language and he just looks like a different player entirely! He’s wanting the ball, he’s demanding the ball,” TNT Sport co-commentator Ally McCoist said after Sancho pretzeled Nuno Mendes at the Signal Iduna Park.
“He certainly looks rejuvenated that’s for sure. This is fabulous from Sancho. He’s magic
“It’s amazing. He’s got his mojo back. He wants to take people on, he’s happy, he’s in an environment where he’s liked. He just looks like a different football player
“This can’t be the same Jason Sancho.”
If we’re talking about ‘magic’, then Sancho’s bitter fall out with Ten Hag was a showcase in making your Manchester United career disappear.