Jadon Sancho is being lined up for a return to Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window - just two years after his move to Manchester United from the Bundesliga side.
Sancho, 23, has appeared in United’s last 13 matches and scored the opening goal in the 2-2 draw against Tottenham last week. But he rarely completes a full 90 minutes, regularly being substituted by Erik ten Hag for the likes of Antony, Christian Eriksen and Anthony Martial.
The Manchester City trainee arrived at Old Trafford having been one of the standout players in Germany in the previous four seasons and his development back in the Premier League has not turned out as hoped.
Although the England winger is clearly a valuable member of the United squad, Ten Hag is planning a rebuild this summer and German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reports that Sancho wants to return to Dortmund for next season.
The 23-year-old plundered an incredible 50 goals and 64 assists in 137 appearances for the club and helped Dortmund to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2021 as part of a formidable side featuring Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Marco Reus.
According to German outlet BILD, Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl remains in regular contact with Sancho’s representatives. While a permanent transfer would cost too much - Sancho is under contract for another two years and rated at over £50million - a loan deal could be on the cards.
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It would see Sancho tread a path back to Signal Iduna Park from United that only one player has before. Shinji Kagawa became the first Japanese player to sign for the Red Devils in 2012, joining in a £12million deal from Dortmund having won back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Jurgen Klopp in charge.
Working with legendary manager Sir Alex Fergsuson was clearly a significant lure for Kagawa, who told De Morgen: “I had the privilege of working with Ferguson for a year which was a great honour. I wanted to work with him longer, but fate decreed otherwise. It was a very beautiful period. Ferguson really wanted me in; I'll never forget that. At the time, I didn’t think about that, that I was working with such a legend.”
Kagawa made 26 appearances in first season at United, helping the club to a record 13th Premier League title. But Ferguson decided enough was enough after more than two decades in charge and retired from management, leaving Kagawa in limbo.
After another campaign at United, the playmaker decided life under Ferguson’s replacement David Moyes wasn’t for him and a return to Dortmund was arranged, where he would spend the next four years.
Klopp, who was still with BVB, revealed Ferguson's regreat that he didn’t get the best out of Kagawa. “I met Sir Alex in Nyon and he's still in love with Shinji,” Klopp said in 2014. “He told me, ‘Shame we didn't manage this well so that it worked out for him. We were satisfied in the first year’. And in the second year you usually make the next step but he didn't manage to do it. But Sir Alex was saying ‘Shame, we should have made this work’”.
It also emerged that Ferguson apologised to Kagawa and Robin van Persie when he retired in 2013, having signed both players the previous year. The announcement came as a surprise, not least to United’s first-team players.
“After two weeks, we were in the dressing room waiting,” Patrice Evra told the UTD Podcast (via Manchester Evening News). “When we arrived at Carrington, I see all those cameras and I was like: ‘Wow, someone has done something wrong. Maybe a player is the story again! Someone has done something wrong, we are in trouble.’
“But we arrived and people said, ‘Guys, you have to stay in the dressing room because the boss wants to have a chat'. And when the boss came into the dressing room to talk to everyone, it's never good news.
“He came, and he said, ‘I'm really sorry. Some people have said that I'm going to retire even before I say it myself. That's why you saw all those cameras. But I will retire because my wife needs me’. He apologised to van Persie, he apologised to Shinji, because he just bought them. He apologised to them especially.”
