At half-time at the Vitality Stadium, with his Chelsea side goalless against Bournemouth and fortunate at that, Enzo Maresca was in need of a spark. Jadon Sancho knows the feeling, his career having lacked the same thing for the best part of three years.
Whether this night on the south coast will prove it remains to be seen but, in an excellent 45-minute debut, the winger showed flashes of the player the Premier League thought it was welcoming when Manchester United paid north of £70million to sign him from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
Signed by Chelsea from United on an initial loan on deadline day, Sancho’s introduction proved the catalyst for an improved second-half display against Bournemouth, the 24-year-old direct and involved in all Chelsea’s most penetrative attacks, including that which set up Christopher Nkunku’s 86th-minute winner.
Sky Sports pundits were perhaps a little hasty in making Sancho man of the match, given goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had saved Evanilson’s first-half penalty and somehow taken a clean sheet from a game in which three quarters of his back four were poor.
Even so, you could hardly begrudge a player who this time last year saw his career effectively paused by a falling out with Erik ten Hag, and even a few weeks ago had no idea if or where he might play regular football this term.
As Chelsea’s players celebrated their 1-0 victory in front of the travelling support, it was the new signing’s name sung with most zest, a connection seemingly forged quickly with a young man Maresca said afterwards “needs to feel love”.
“This is what I thought when I spoke with him before he joined us,” the Italian said. “He has to just enjoy football. It’s the reason why they play, they’re happy and they want to enjoy football. Then, because they’re good, they’re going to do good things.”
A fast start helps any new signing, but in reality there are far more players who ease into their work than hit the ground at a gallop. In Sancho’s case, though, there is a certain urgency, lest for both club and player the narrative be allowed to drift towards more of the same.
For Chelsea, the winger’s signing looked another move of opportunistic excess while other needs - at full-back and centre-forward - were ignored.
For Sancho, the fear was that swapping instability at Old Trafford for Chelsea chaos would prove a journey from frying pan to fire. Do they really need, and could they help, one another, or is this merely an ill-judged marriage of convenience?
Maresca is not exactly short on wide options, but his attack has been lopsided in the early weeks of this season, with Noni Madueke in fine form on the right and Cole Palmer drifting naturally towards the same flank.
On the left, though, three different players have started already and none with especially grand results. Pedro Neto, the £54m arrival from Wolves who also prefers to play on the right, filled the post at Bournemouth but was whisked off at half-time.
“When we brought Jadon in, the reason was because we were looking for another winger like Noni,” Maresca explained. “Noni’s doing it on the right side, winning one-vs-ones, creating chances, scoring goals. We were looking for the same on our left-side.”
That does not say much, of course, for Chelsea’s prior recruitment, with Mykhailo Mudryk the £89m elephant in the room. But if you questioned, glancing at Chelsea’s squad list, whether the Sancho’s signing would make a tangible difference to his new club’s fortunes then the before and after shots of this performance make the early case pretty well.
