Jadon Sancho's dramatic United saga ends with Dortmund return
When Jadon Sancho arrived at Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, it was a cause for celebration.
The 21-year-old English winger came over with a tidal wave of hype and expectation. He had been a closely watched prospect since his teen years with crosstown rival Manchester City's youth squad and had racked up 50 goals in three seasons in Germany.
His $93M transfer fee was considered shocking at the time and sent a clear message that Sancho would be expected to play like a professional.
It's only been two years since that moment, but all of Sancho's hype and expectation has dissolved. On Wednesday, United quietly announced that he would be returning to Dortmund on loan – for a measly fee of $4.4M.
Sancho's precipitous drop in value and form have led many to declare his transfer the worst in United club history. But what happened? And was it all Sancho's fault?
There were two burning issues that led to Sancho's departure: goal involvements and off-field behavior.
When it comes to Sancho's goal-scoring troubles at United, he may deserve the benefit of the doubt. He was incredibly productive at Dortmund, creating the second-most chances in the league during his tenure behind Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski. His goal-scoring fall-off at United was shocking, but crucially, it was in line with the poor performances of all of United's creative players.
Between January and June 2023, Sancho was actually one of the top-performing chance creators at United with 50 goal-scoring chances during that time period – the second most of any player in the squad.
The behavioral problems, though? That's all Sancho.
The English winger had always been plagued with quiet accusations of unprofessionalism, but those whispers grew to shouts during the start of this Premier League season. United coach Erik Ten Hag announced to the media that Sancho hadn't been giving his all in training. Sancho disagreed and took to social media to air his grievances with Ten Hag.
Ten Hag – and the rest of United's players – urged Sancho to apologize for disrespecting his coach. Sancho refused, however, and Ten Hag dropped him from United's first team as punishment.
Many expected Sancho to return after the two parties had cooled off, but Ten Hag never budged. He didn't appear interested in working with Sancho if Sancho wasn't interested in apologizing and gracefully accepting feedback about his training style. Sancho hasn't played for United since and his first game with Dortmund will be his first game in months.
This loan may just be another speed bump in Sancho's United journey. It has no "buy" option for Dortmund, which means that once the season is up, Sancho will return to the same United purgatory he is fleeing Wednesday.
Being away from United for a few months – and back in an environment in which he is comfortable – could be wonderful for Sancho. It's an opportunity for him to get himself together away from the United circus.
But it will only work if he takes this opportunity seriously and devotes himself to improving. If not, he'll be back in exile at United in a few short months and the Sancho-United transfer story could become even worse.
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