Back in the summer of 2021, Manchester United finally ended a transfer saga that had gone on for well over a year by completing the signing of Jadon Sancho.
The England winger swapped the Bundesliga for the Premier League on the back of two excellent seasons in Germany. In the 2019/20 campaign, Sancho notched an astonishing 17 goals and 16 assists from 32 league games, form that saw him come runner-up in the Golden Boy award.
Even at the youth level in Manchester City's academy, Sancho was a standout player alongside the likes of Phil Foden. Fast forward to this season and the 23-year-old's career looks to have stalled.
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Sancho’s debut Premier League campaign saw him rack up 29 appearances, being named in the starting XI 20 times.
The star of United's mixed campaign last time out was Cristiano Ronaldo, with his unbelievable eye for goal clearly still working in the latter stages of his career. However, just a few months into the current campaign and the Portugal captain was heading for the exit door.
Many have questioned whether the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had a negative impact on his teammates during his time at Old Trafford, with players perhaps more focused on giving him the ball than concentrating on their own games.
The theory has seemingly been proven right by Marcus Rashford, who has flourished in the absence of Ronaldo. However, Sancho’s underwhelming stats of three goals and three assists this season suggest Ronaldo wasn't hindering his game, and it makes you wonder why the youngster has not followed in Rashford's footsteps and kicked on this season.
Of course, there was always bound to be a transitional period as he settled into a new league. Many Bundesliga sides adopt a counter-attacking system, and Dortmund are no different. Taking him out of that and putting him into a United side that is now under the management of Erik ten Hag, it is easy to see which parts of his game he may be struggling with.
Ten Hag, for one, did not sign Sancho. However, the team's new style means they need to have control and create many chances – a far cry from his time in Germany. At Dortmund, he had time to be patient and preserve energy, whereas in England he has had to switch to a much more intense and faster game.
Sancho was not selected for a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad heading to Qatar earlier this season, something that would undoubtedly have been a huge setback for a player who once looked a guaranteed member of England's squad for years to come.
However, with two of his Premier League goals coming since the World Cup break, there are signs of improvement from the youngster.
If he can continue to concentrate on adapting to what is being asked of him and take any chance that comes his way, he can hopefully get back to the Jadon Sancho that we all saw at Dortmund.
