Jadon Sancho | £72.9M fee agreed

[noodlehair]

This is my worst fear with us signing him.

He actually looks like he'd be more comfortable on the left where he can use his stronger foot to thread passes through when he comes inside, and we already have a problem of nearly all our attacking players wanting to play there. On the right he reminds me of when we used to play Lingard there (in terms of his positioning)...in that he basically doesn't play there.

I'd rather we get a midfielder in and a centreback. If we need another forward either a CF for when Cavani can't play or someone who actually will play from the right and offer a goal or assist threat from there are far better suited options. Not that I don't rate Greenwood but if we're going to sign more attacking players they should be players who offer something we don't already have. Otherwise half way through next season we'll have Rashford back on the right, Pogba and Sancho playing on the left at the same time, and it'll be 0-1 to Burnley in the 88th minute.

 

[giorno]

He's never been deployed to provide width from the right like a winger would.

He's not a winger period. He's a modern attacking midfielder/#10 who starts from wide areas, but he doesn't stay there

 

[TheReligion]

German media have said there are no negotiations for sancho going on and no offers from any clubs.

Christen Falk from BILD has tweeted that there is no offer and no negotiations between Utd and Dortmund foe Sancho. Nothing going on.

What reliable source said we are negotiating for him?

Yes you've said already. There's plenty of reliable links if you look through the thread.

 

[Rozay]

He's not a winger period. He's a modern attacking midfielder/#10 who starts from wide areas, but he doesn't stay there

And those players, on literally almost every occasion, play on an inverted wing. Nobody wants Sancho’s main game to be coming in on his left foot, nor does he have the qualities for his main game to be going outside on his right foot.

 

[UnitedSofa]

To be honest, I agree with Brownie and posters will use it as a way to push an agenda against Ole and the club. That we’re not aggressive enough in the transfer marker, we’re ditherers, can’t complete a transfer after having 2 go’s at it. PE teacher etc etc.

Same posters who moan about us hypothetically not getting Sancho and him going to a rival and bossing it are the same ones complaining that we shouldn’t go out and buy the best players but buy cheaper alternatives like Leicester do, but when we do do that & they turn out to be cr*p, complain that our scouts are useless and why can’t we buy ready made stars.

It’s the CAF all over. Grass is always greener and we can never have it good enough.

Always unhappy and never happy enough.

I don't quite understand people to be fair. He has a mediocre game today and now people don't want him, or say that he's not who we need and he won't improve us.

Yet if we fail to get him, and he goes to Liverpool or Chelsea, we'd be a useless club for failing to get our man again and he'll transform whoever he's with because he's absolute quality etc.

Seems like some people are hard to please.



Plenty of sources have said we're in discussion, heck i think we even briefed that we're optimistic that a deal will be done. Some have mentioned on here that BILD aren't a good source, but i'm not sure

Believe it or not, football fans are not a hive mind who think the same. They are individuals.

Those who will have a moan if he goes elsewhere will likely not be the ones who said that he's not the best fit for us. It will be those who wanted him here.

 

[RUCK4444]

He actually looks like he'd be more comfortable on the left where he can use his stronger foot to thread passes through when he comes inside, and we already have a problem of nearly all our attacking players wanting to play there. On the right he reminds me of when we used to play Lingard there (in terms of his positioning)...in that he basically doesn't play there.

To be honest whenever I see him for England it makes me want him less and less.

He’s clearly talented but we don’t need the England-version of Sancho in our team that’s for sure.

 

[Rozay]

He actually looks like he'd be more comfortable on the left where he can use his stronger foot to thread passes through when he comes inside, and we already have a problem of nearly all our attacking players wanting to play there. On the right he reminds me of when we used to play Lingard there (in terms of his positioning)...in that he basically doesn't play there.

The thing is, a step back from any football follower should surely come to the same conclusion as this. Any disregarding of this almost seems like wilful ignorance to me. As the same is applied to almost every similar player in the game.

Players like Mbappé can play on the right side as he has the qualities to go outside his man, and frankly less of the qualities to come inside as some sort of pseudo 10. Hazard playing as a RW though wouldn’t be ideal.

 

[Adnan]

He's not a winger period. He's a modern attacking midfielder/#10 who starts from wide areas, but he doesn't stay there

I've been saying the same for sometime now. But people have looked at certain sites online and come to a conclusion about him being a right winger. Whether he's deployed on the left or the right, he'll drift infield into the half space similar to a attacking midfielder/ #10.

 

[giorno]

And those players, on literally almost every occasion, play on an inverted wing. Nobody wants Sancho’s main game to be coming in on his left foot, nor does he have the qualities for his main game to be going outside on his right foot.

Sancho does more than fine on his stronger foot tbf. But he needs freedom to roam and runners around him

 

[Teja]

And those players, on literally almost every occasion, play on an inverted wing. Nobody wants Sancho’s main game to be coming in on his left foot, nor does he have the qualities for his main game to be going outside on his right foot.

He does have good stats from the right though. And it's not like Rashford will be completely useless on the right, they'll probably swap around quite a bit through out each game.

 

[Rozay]

Sancho does more than fine on his stronger foot tbf. But he needs freedom to roam and runners around him

In the Bundesliga for one of the better teams there, sure. But we know enough about the game surely to know that it isn’t the optimal solution. You want a player who will cost as much as him to be put in a situation where his qualities are optimised.

 

[Munkehboi]

Sancho does more than fine on his stronger foot tbf. But he needs freedom to roam and runners around him

I've watched him more for England than at club level to be fair but do some of you feel he will be another BVB player that only really fits well in a certain system? Basically is he another Miki, Kagawa, Can, Weigl etc?

 

[MadMike]

To be honest, I agree with Brownie and posters will use it as a way to push an agenda against Ole and the club. That we’re not aggressive enough in the transfer marker, we’re ditherers, can’t complete a transfer after having 2 go’s at it. PE teacher etc etc.

Same posters who moan about us hypothetically not getting Sancho and him going to a rival and bossing it are the same ones complaining that we shouldn’t go out and buy the best players but buy cheaper alternatives like Leicester do, but when we do do that & they turn out to be cr*p, complain that our scouts are useless and why can’t we buy ready made stars.

It’s the CAF all over. Grass is always greener and we can never have it good enough.

Always unhappy and never happy enough.

Why did you quote my post if you're not going to remotely acknowledge it

What does the "PE teacher" argument have to do with the rest of the post which is about transfers.

What do you mean by "it's caf all over". The caf isn't a single person or a hive mind. You just choose to see it that way.

 

[Rozay]

He does have good stats from the right though. And it's not like Rashford will be completely useless on the right, they'll probably swap around quite a bit through out each game.

He has good stats starting from the right. But in reality, he’s often infield, and frankly, the league he plays in regularly leaves him with no defender within 20 yards of him.

There will likely be no extrapolation of JS’ Bundesliga form onto our RW. He simply doesn’t have the qualities to dominate top PL LBs, and will basically spend his time basically doing what Pogba does when he plays on the left, and he’ll be in field looking for the ball. But in terms of damage caused from the right, it will be lesser than his impact on the left.

I do like the player, but he doesn’t answer the questions we need answering. Unless the question is as simple as ‘we need quality on the right, and Jadon Sancho is a quality player’. Then sure. We could even buy Grealish and put him on the right, in that case.

 

[giorno]

In the Bundesliga for one of the better teams there, sure. But we know enough about the game surely to know that it isn’t the optimal solution. You want a player who will cost as much as him to be put in a situation where his qualities are optimised.

Don't disagree but i think he's good enough that this is not an issue

The issue is you play totally wrong for him

 

[Rozay]

Don't disagree but i think he's good enough that this is not an issue

The issue is you play totally wrong for him

I haven’t even gotten to that issue yet, which is another problem, although I think a lesser one. If he were on the left he’d still have an impact I feel.

 

[Judas]

To be fair if I’d mostly watched him for England and not much else I’d probably be reacting quite like some in here. He’s probably not many really good performance for our brave boys .

 

[In Rainbows]

We had tracked him for ages, brought him to Carrington in January, rolled out Sir Alex etc. He made his choice because there is more than one football team in the world, which some forget. It’s obvious what Dortmund gives you. The people in this thread wanting to sign the 21 year old Sancho instead of giving the 18 year old Diallo the same program Dortmund gave the same Sancho is an example of why Dortmund will always hold an obvious appeal.

It's a good thing I've been salivating a future trio of Sancho, Greenwood, and Diallo.

 

[AltiUn]

Christen Falk from BILD has tweeted that there is no offer and no negotiations between Utd and Dortmund foe Sancho. Nothing going on.

What reliable source said we are negotiating for him?

Christian Falk is one of the most unreliable journalists going.

 

[giorno]

I've watched him more for England than at club level to be fair but do some of you feel he will be another BVB player that only really fits well in a certain system? Basically is he another Miki, Kagawa, Can, Weigl etc?

Not really, he's a great player, just, like most players, he needs to be used for his skillset and not for forced to be something he isn't

He'd be devastating for City, or Chelsea, for example

 

[Pexbo]

We had tracked him for ages, brought him to Carrington in January, rolled out Sir Alex etc. He made his choice because there is more than one football team in the world, which some forget. It’s obvious what Dortmund gives you. The people in this thread wanting to sign the 21 year old Sancho instead of giving the 18 year old Diallo the same program Dortmund gave the same Sancho is an example of why Dortmund will always hold an obvious appeal.

It’s a great point to be fair.

 

[RedPed]

To be honest whenever I see him for England it makes me want him less and less.

He’s clearly talented but we don’t need the England-version of Sancho in our team that’s for sure.

C'mon how many club players have looked different gravy in an England shirt over the years?

 

[Rozay]

It's a good thing I've been salivating a future trio of Sancho, Greenwood, and Diallo.

I think that has great balance, but in reality I can’t see it being given a genuine chance. Rashford is a certainty on the left, only injury can stop him. He’s become more than a player for us, he’s a symbol - and embodies all of the stuff we say is what ‘Manchester United means’. He is literally the poster boy - local lad, much-publicised humble beginnings, rose from the academy to score on his debut and captain England etc. He’ll play even if shite.

 

[VP89]

To be honest whenever I see him for England it makes me want him less and less.

He’s clearly talented but we don’t need the England-version of Sancho in our team that’s for sure.

Oh really? And how many times is that?

He played today, and yes was poor. Before that he had about 20 minutes v Iceland where he was very good and bagged an assist. Before that he played well vs Kosovo and scored 2 goals.

All in all he's featured in what 3 or 4 games for the main England side? Of which a good bulk is off the bench in a dead rubber format where the match tempo is lost. Nonetheless he's actually done well in the majority of those minutes, and today we have lazy posts like "whenever I see him in an England shirt I want to see him less"

 

[reddev3]

The problem with this transfer is that over the past year it has become abundantly clear that he is MILES better playing on the left.

 

[Adnan]

Not really, he's a great player, just, like most players, he needs to be used for his skillset and not for forced to be something he isn't

He'd be devastating for City, or Chelsea, for example

He could be devastating for us too. But if we want to deploy him on the right, then we also need better players going forward in the RB and RCM positions, along with a positive mindset when it comes to playing football. And that positive mindset can only begin to manifest on the training ground.

But I hope we sign him, because we do need creativity in the team. But he's best used on the left imo.

 

[Stabra]

You have to admit our rivals often do their business earlier and more efficiently. Check Chelsea last summer and Liverpool with Jota as recent examples. I can’t have supporters defending our transfer methodology these days. This sancho thing has just rumbled on and on and here we go again for another summer of it most likely.

If you take Konate's signing as an example, then you could take that further:

- Liverpool could sign him earlier, according to the rumours they were just waiting for CL qualification to be sure they would be in the CL next year. Otherwise everything was already agreed in March/April with Konate and Leipzig.

- Sp why couldn't United do the same with Sancho? CL qualification was almost clear in March, so why not start working on that goal now? What's the point of waiting until the end of the season? That's two/three lost months. It could be done already, have signed Sancho and now work on other transfers full time....

 

[saivet]

The problem with this transfer is that over the past year it has become abundantly clear that he is MILES better playing on the left.

Why has it? He's been very good on the right in previous seasons and has looked very good on the left this season. To me, the past year just shows he is a good option to have on either side.

He's not been miles better this season than last season, for sure.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Guess it's no coincidence that most of the people who don't want this guy, are camped in the Grealish thread pining for him.

 

[el3mel]

He's definitely a very good player. People just need to modify their expectations a little bit though, as I feel like some here are treating as if he's Messi who's going to solve all our attack issues.

 

[MadMike]

Why has it? He's been very good on the right in previous seasons and has looked very good on the left this season. To me, the past year just shows he is a good option to have on either side.

He's not been miles better this season than last season, for sure.

Because there's this thing called watching the player with your eyes and seeing that he looks clearly more effective coming from the left using and his right foot. Like today when he hit the bar coming from the left, but looked totally ineffective on the right. It's an outdated thing, watching the football instead of the stats, I know.

However even the stats indicate better performance on the left than right. Hence Dortmund are also increasingly playing him on the left (season's stats below). A trend most likely to continue.

I know he is versatile enough to play both sides and that's fine, but I don't understand why sign an 80-90m player if you don't intend to play him where he performs the best. That's the stuff we do with players like Dan James, not a 90m star signing.

PS. Even if you watch the bare highlights of his Dortmund goals+assists, you'll see he's most often coming in from the left. Even in games where he's been put down as a RW. Like today, he played on the RW for England, but his most dangerous moments were when he was coming from the left or middle, not the right. If he had scored that goal today, people would be putting it down as a goal from the RW, when in fact it was him shooting from the left side with his right foot. He didn't help provide any width or penetration the right, which is what we're supposedly looking for.

 

[Lash]

Only on the Cafe could we go from Muppet levels of excitement all round and now we might actually sign him - he's not the right player for us.

 

[Adnan]

.

Guess it's no coincidence that most of the people who don't want this guy, are camped in the Grealish thread pining for him.

Sancho has the potential to reach a similar level. Both players are actually very similar in profile.

 

[MDFC Manager]

.

Sancho has the potential to reach a similar level. Both players are actually very similar in profile.

Yes, in fact I think Sancho will reach an even higher level.

 

[Rolaholic]

For the status he's got on here and money involved I hope he's a genuine world-beater.

Only Messi and Muller have more assists than him in the top 5 leagues since 2018 but of course he's wank because he doesn't play well in the handful of meaningless matches per year with different players for England...

Would've loved to look back on the Bruno thread to see all the people saying we don't need him because he doesn't ever produce for Portugal

 

[Adnan]

Yes, in fact I think Sancho will reach an even higher level.

I think Amad Diallo may end up trumping them both in the longterm.

 

[Judas]

He's definitely a very good player. People just need to modify their expectations a little bit though, as I feel like some here are treating as if he's Messi who's going to solve all our attack issues.

Exactly. He's 21. Young, learning and improving. If people are expecting a player who doesn't frustrate at times, well good luck.

 

[Hansi Fick]

Only Messi and Muller have more assists than him in the top 5 leagues since 2018 but of course he's wank because he doesn't play well in the handful matches with different players for England...

Would've loved to look back on the Bruno thread to see all the people saying we don't need him because he doesn't produce for Portugal

It's especially hilarious when people respond to the records he has broken with his stats by saying that any average joe in Bundesliga could achieve those numbers, in which case they obviously wouldn't be.. well.. records

 

[united_99]

Don't disagree but i think he's good enough that this is not an issue

The issue is you play totally wrong for him

I believe he will be a success in our current set up.
But even if not United play the way the manager wants them to play or wants to play based on the players available. Our board does not and will not define how we play (wish they had the competence to do it, but they don’t).
So even if Sancho is not successful under the current manager, he will be under the next or the guy after the next ...
Hazard for example signed under Di Matteo but had much more success under basically every other manager but Di Matteo.

 

[Dazzmondo]

That means precisely feck all. Footballers play where their team needs them to play, not where they are necessarily more comfortable or more natural. Just because Dortmund played him more on the right, doesn't mean he's more natural there.

Dan Micciche the England youth coach said he always looked more comfortable on the left. Which is also what your eyes tell you when you watch him play.

You can argue whether he's better on the left or the right but the important thing is that he has delivered plenty of goals and assists playing on that right side, so we at least have evidence that he can play to a high level there whereas we have no evidence of that for Grealish.

Based on your view that neither are natural right wingers though it sounds like both would be pointless and instead we shouldn't sign anyone there.