Jadon Sancho could yet have a future at Old Trafford with a former mentor of the winger’s rumoured to be on the verge of taking a key role with the Red Devils
Manchester United have been connected with a move to take Jason Wilcox away from Southampton to be their new technical director, serving under fellow potential new appointment Dan Ashworth.
The Manchester Evening News report that new CEO Omar Berrada has recommended Wilcox for the role. The pair previously worked together at Manchester City, where Wilcox worked first as academy coach and was promoted to academy director under Berrada’s stewardship.
As the MEN point out, that means that Wilcox coached Sancho as a teenager from 2015 to 2017 before the winger moved to Borussia Dortmund, with Wilcox outspoken in his praise of the then-youth prospect.
He said after Sancho’s two-goal youth team debut as a 15 year old: "For a young kid playing his first Under-18s football match, I thought he was sensational. I'm really looking forward to working with him because he's a talented boy who works really hard."
Wilcox moved on from City to become Southampton’s director of football last January, with reports now suggesting that United have made a formal enquiry about securing his services as part of a behind-the-scenes revamp led by new part-owners Ineos.
Putting two and two together, the MEN now suppose that Wilcox’s admiration for Sancho could see him brought back into the fold at United.
Sancho was sent out on loan back to Dortmund in January following a bust-up with manager Erik ten Hag.
The 24 year old had not played for United since August, when ten Hag criticised Sancho for his ‘performances in training’ – allegations that Sancho said were ‘completely untrue’ and that he had ‘been a scapegoat for a long time’.
Sancho has been a regular for Dortmund since making his return on loan, registering two assists and a goal to help the club pull off a dramatic improvement in their league form and overtake RB Leipzig into fourth place.
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