By the end of next season Jadon Sancho will have two years left on his Manchester United contract and it might be approaching the time when a decision has to be taken on his future.
As with most modern deals, the five-year contract Sancho signed when joining from Borussia Dortmund for £73millon includes the option of an extra year, so he could be tied down until 2027, but to earn that he needs to show a considerable improvement on his first couple of seasons.
It maybe sums up United's occasional transfer misfortune that the player on which they struck what seemed at the time to be an excellent deal has so far failed to live up to that value. In 2020 Borussia Dortmund wanted £108million for Sancho and United refused to play ball. A year later they had saved themselves £35million.
The problem is Sancho doesn't look like a £73million winger on the evidence of his two years at Old Trafford. His first campaign was difficult, with the season unravelling under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then falling apart completely when Ralf Rangnick came in.
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But Sancho should have suited Rangnick's style, given his Bundesliga experience, and he certainly looked like a player who would benefit from Erik ten Hag's methods when the Dutchman arrived. Ten Hag's clear structures of play and his considered coaching methods have improved plenty of players in his first season at the club.
After a bright pre-season and a respectable first couple of months, Sancho wasn't one of them, however. The 23-year-old needed the three-month break he got during the season as he struggled physically and mentally, but again a promising return to the side fizzled out.
Sancho may have been signed in the Solskjaer era, but regardless of the manager he looked a good fit for the club. As Solskjaer said at the time, "he is a forward player in the best traditions of Manchester United."
But the exciting dribbler we saw in the Bundesliga has rarely surfaced back in England. Solskjaer said he had "untapped potential" when he signed and if that is the case it is still waiting to be explored.
Across two seasons Sancho has appeared in 55 of United's 78 Premier League games, starting just 41 of them. A return of nine goals and six assists is a tally of just 0.38 goal involvements per 90 minutes. In four seasons and 104 games in the Bundesliga, he averaged exactly one goal involvement per 90 minutes.
It is clear to see Sancho's attacking output has dropped, but he doesn't look like the same player on the eye test either. He was versatile at Dortmund, often starting as a No. 10, occasionally on the left, but primarily on the right. At Old Trafford, he's yet to find his best position.
He has looked more comfortable on the left, cutting infield, rather than the right and Ten Hag admitted last season that he thought that is where Sancho wanted to play. Yet he was signed primarily as a right-winger.
At the moment he is behind Antony on the right and Marcus Rashford on the left. He had some success as an impact sub playing centrally last season.
But there hasn't been enough from him so far and this season feels vital. Amad could offer even more competition if he impresses in pre-season and Ten Hag wants to sign another striker, which would mean Rashford featuring on the left more often than last season.
Sancho might have to settle for a role as a substitute at the start of the season, but when he gets his chances he needs to take them. A year ago we were talking similarly about Rashford, a player edging towards D-day when it came to contract talks who looked to have lost his way.
Rashford was the success story of Ten Hag's first season, however. He became the first United player in a decade to score 30 goals in a season and rediscovered his form and his confidence.
Ten Hag will give Sancho the same chance. He will get the coaching he needs at Carrington and clear instructions on how to fit into this system, but it does feel like the rest is now up to him.
