Manchester United are in a bit of a mess right now.
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making just four signings over the summer, one of which was backup goalkeeper Tom Heaton, you wouldn’t expect any of the club’s current issues to be down to the chemistry within the squad or anything similar.
Even with the injuries suffered by summer recruit Raphael Varane, you’d expect United’s two world-class forward signings to be leaving their mark – and that’s certainly been true of Ronaldo. The Portuguese legend has nine goals in 12 games since his return to Old Trafford and, if anything, has been carrying the team this season.
But what about the £73 million man who Solskjaer has essentially been begging for since he took over as United manager?
In fairness, United’s interest in Jadon Sancho pre-dates Solskjaer’s stint at the helm, with United previously trying to sign him when he wanted to leave Manchester City. However, United firmly set their sights on him in 2019, only for Sancho to rebuff their interest following United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.
The Sancho to United saga intensified in the summer of 2020. Borussia Dortmund’s “€120 million or nothing” probably still triggers a lot of United fans, with Solskjaer ultimately deciding not to fork out the eye-watering fee in the hope of securing a cut-price deal the following summer.
The move paid off as United finally got their man for £73 million. But if the club and the manager were so desperate to buy him, why has he barely played this season, let alone in his favoured position?
United, Solskjaer and the fans viewed Sancho as the answer to United’s long-running right-wing problems. Other than Antonio Valencia, the club haven’t boasted a natural right-winger within their ranks since Ronaldo’s first Old Trafford stint, if not David Beckham, and it’s been clear they’ve needed a creative spark on the right almost as much as they’ve needed a defensive midfielder.
(Image: Getty Images)
And who better to have signed than Sancho?
Joining United at the age of just 21, he’d topped the Bundesliga season rankings twice in players dribbled past, goal-creating actions, carries into the final third and carries into the penalty area. Not to mention all the other stats he was in the top-five for such as goals, assists, through balls and basically any positive attacking stat.
Throw into the mix his ridiculous highlight reel from his time Dortmund along with the fact he’s English, a former City academy player and had carried the England U17 side to World Cup glory alongside the likes of Phil Foden, Conor Gallagher, Emile Smith Rowe, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Angel Gomes, and suddenly he looks the dream signing.
By the way, Foden may have won the Golden Ball at the aforementioned World Cup, but in my opinion, Sancho was the best player at the tournament.
So we bought a player who tore up a top European league before turning 21 and was seen as one of England’s biggest hopes for the next generation – not to mention the fact we could now laugh at City for letting him go and inadvertently making our team better – so why isn’t he playing?
(Image: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
The quick answer is no one knows.
We cannot definitively say that Sancho isn’t playing because of X, Y or Z. Of course, part of the problem is he’s not being played in the position he was likely told he would be playing prior to arriving at the club.
In his 13 appearances so far – or to put those numbers into perspective, the equivalent of just over six full games – 77% of his minutes have come on the left, 6% have come as a striker and 17% of his minutes have been played on the right. If you can’t be bothered doing the maths, he’s played a total of just 91 minutes in the position he was bought to play in – one full game.
It’s absurd to expect a 21-year-old to be excelling at a new club after being given the equivalent of just one game in the position he was bought to play in. Nevertheless, Solskjaer has continued to either play Mason Greenwood on the right or play without wingers altogether.
At a glance, Greenwood seems to be justifying his place on the right of United’s frontline – four goals and an assist is a solid return. But when you delve into his stats and see that three of those goals came before the introduction of Ronaldo when Greenwood was playing as the striker, maybe things aren’t as rosy as we think.
One goal and one assist from the right side in all competitions in the equivalent of nearly nine full games is not good enough to warrant starting over a world-class talent like Sancho.
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Maybe Solskjaer is noticing? In the recent Manchester derby, the United boss brought Sancho on at half-time to play on the right and the youngster definitely added some energy and creativity to the game.
However, United fans have every reason to be worried following reports of Sancho being trained to play as a right wing-back.
Sancho has the talent and potential to be one of the Premier League’s best-ever wingers. With creativity akin to a prime Eden Hazard at Chelsea combined with the goal threat of a prime Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal, he could genuinely carry this United team on his shoulders if he hits top form.
Solskjaer needs to start offering Sancho more minutes in the position he was bought to play in because right now United’s three-year pursuit of the England international makes no sense whatsoever.
What do you think of the Jadon Sancho situation? Follow our United On My Mind editor Mike Parrott on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comment section below.
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