Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed that he has held several one-to-one discussions with Jadon Sancho in a bid to spark his Manchester United career into life.
Sancho, who scored in last weekend’s FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough, has struggled to get his United career off the ground so far following his £72.9million arrival from German giants Borussia Dortmund last summer.
He has scored just three goals and failed to grab a single assist in 25 appearances in all competitions so far this term, meaning questions have been raised about why he has struggled to hit the levels that he so often discovered during his time in Germany.
However, his performances in United’s recent clashes with Boro and Burnley have offered encouraging signs that his Old Trafford career is threatening to spark into life.
With that in mind, Rangnick has now confirmed that he has held conversations between himself and the winger, admitting that he has set him the challenge of trying to produce a consistent level of performance.
“He did [improve], but this was necessary,” Rangnick told United’s club website. “We had quite a few conversations just between Jadon and myself.
“The same with Marcus [Rashford]. I also think Marcus played quite well at Burnley, in the first half. As I’ve said, I’ve known Jadon for four or five years now.
“When he was 17, I was trying to lure him to Leipzig and yes, this is the kind of performance that we need, that he should play regularly on a permanent basis.
“Also for him, he can still get better and improve his performances but, so far, in the last weeks, there was a development in a positive way.
“He’s in good shape right now and it’s about making sure he can play on this kind of level continuously.”
Despite being signed to end United’s long-term search for a new right-sided winger, Sancho, who will he hoping to star for England at the World Cup later this year, has started each of the last two matches on the left-wing, linking up well with fellow England international Luke Shaw, particularly in Tuesday’s stalemate at Turf Moor.
Having seen signs of encouragement down the left-flank, Rangnick is hoping to see more of the same on the right.
The German added: “[It is] very important, both defensively and offensively. We had quite a few moments offensively with underlap or overlap situations.
“Also the goal that we scored was exactly that kind of situation with an underlap from Luke Shaw and a perfectly played ball to Paul Pogba.
“Yes, it’s important: on the left side, I agree this happened in the last couple of games between Luke [Shaw] and Jadon. Now we have to make sure this happens on the right side.”
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