Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has showered Jadon Sancho with praise after the Manchester United loanee’s performance for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Jadon Sancho returned to Borussia Dortmund in January after the Bundesliga club agreed a six-month loan deal with Manchester United.
The 24-year-old United winger, who made his name in his first spell at Dortmund, has been able to revive his career away from Old Trafford.
Sancho was excluded from the United first team in 2023 after his relationship with manager Erik ten Hag fractured, with the Dortmund star’s future plunged into doubt.
However, the United misfit has shown shades of his former Dortmund self during his second spell in Germany and impressed with his performances while out on loan.
Sancho played a starring role for Dortmund in the German side’s 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first-leg Champions League semi-final tie.
Niclas Fullkrug’s opener in the first half at the Westfalenstadion was enough to ensure that Dortmund head into the second leg with the advantage.
Henry praises Man Utd loanee Sancho
PSG will welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Parc des Princes for the second-leg Champions League semi-final tie on 7th May.
Either Dortmund or PSG will face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at Wembley in June.
Speaking after the first-leg semi-final tie, Thierry Henry praised Jadon Sancho for making a remarkable transformation in mindset after his previous struggles.
Sancho was absent for United for at least three months in the 2022-23 season amid his battle with physical and mental issues before returning to the club.
“We all know that he struggled mentally at Manchester United,” Henry said on CBS Sports.
“The power of the brain and how you can be as a professional… when you’re not well here [in the mind], or at home, or whatever it is, you cannot perform.
“I don’t care where you are or who you are or the talent that you have.
“You can see that things are a bit better up there, whatever the struggle was with him, because to do what he did tonight… I think at Manchester United he played 48 games and only dribbled past a player seven times. He did that in the first 10 minutes tonight.
“All I can say is don’t underestimate that. Mental health is not an easy thing to deal with and you can see that when someone is well up there then they can perform, so well done, big man.”
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Henry on Sancho’s return to Dortmund
Jadon Sancho has made 17 appearances across all competitions for Dortmund this season and has scored three times in his second spell at the club.
The former England international’s future at Old Trafford remains unclear, but United could be ready to cash in on Sancho if the right fee presents itself.
Henry believes that Sancho made an “amazing choice” to return to Dortmund after the United loanee has appeared to rediscover his best form.
“You need to feel the love, you need to feel that you’re important and you can’t lose your football just like that,” he added.
“We all know that it happened to me, sometimes when you’re not well you cannot perform on the field, whatever situation you have outside.
“More often than not we are very critical on guys that don’t perform because you are at a big club and you don’t perform, but you tend to forget about what’s happening outside the field.
“If that’s not right, then you’re not going to perform well and that’s why I think it was an amazing choice for him to go on loan back to Dortmund where he knows maybe that the light wasn’t going to be too much on him at the very beginning.”