It’s official. The saga is over. Jadon Sancho will be a Manchester United player going into the 21/22 season. This deal has been two years in the making. It might feel like it’s all over for some, but really, it’s just getting started. Now we can look forward to how he will improve the team. And then we get to see him play for United, which is what transfers are all about.
Fitting in on the pitch
There have been some people questioning how he might fit in at United. How he might disrupt the front three that we already have. For me, this is nonsense. United have not had a genuine right-winger since Antonio Valencia. Since then, there has been a lot of shoehorning people into that side. You can tell that for years we lacked genuine balance. That balance is something that Jadon Sancho can provide.
Not only that, but he can also fill in on both wings and even do a job in the number 10 role if need be. His flexibility is hugely important. We have seen how one or two injuries to our forwards has left us paper thin up top. Sancho coming in, not only gives us balance but also depth. It means we don’t get Marcus Rashford running himself into the ground for another season. There is a reason that some of our forwards tailed off towards the end of the season. Put simply, they were knackered, whether they had slight injuries from playing so much or just fatigue. It all plays its part on how you perform on the pitch. Hopefully, with Sancho coming in we can avoid some of those issues and be a stronger unit towards the business end of the season.
Another attribute Sancho brings to the team is the creativity he can provide. He has had 20 assists for Dortmund for the past three consecutive seasons. As well as getting over 10 goals in each of those seasons. This output is fantastic. Something that gets thrown at our forwards is that they miss a lot of chances. Cavani always seems to need two or three chances before the goal comes. Similar can be said for Rashford and Greenwood. And Martial’s finishing has not been up to scratch recently. However, Sancho will create a lot more chances from wide areas. This is something that the rest of the forward line will thrive on. We will have to wait and see if we get the same output in the Premier League. But I think Sancho still has the level of ability to provide for Manchester United.
Fitting in off the pitch
That’s covered how he will fit in on the pitch, and I don’t think there is anything to worry about in terms of off the pitch. We know how close he and Marcus are. He has played with Mason Greenwood, Harry Maguire, and Luke Shaw for England. These are all good signs for someone to embed themselves into a squad. Getting the deal done early means he will have near enough a full pre-season with the squad to adjust to everyone.
Also, he used to live in Manchester. He has friends that live in Manchester. It will probably feel like coming home for him. With some players who sign from abroad there are worries with settling in and there may be family issues. We saw this kind of thing with Di Maria. Not to try and jinx anything but I can’t imagine we get anything like this with Jadon Sancho.
For me, Jadon comes in starts on that right-hand side, maybe filling in on the left. And soon cements himself as the world-class player we all know he has the capability of being.