Inside Jadon Sancho’s dismal Man Utd career: Denied the No.7, marginalised by Cristiano Ronaldo & refusing to apologise to Erik ten Hag

Though everyone involved has had a miserable time during his time at Old Trafford, United had high hopes that the £74 million winger would be a game-changing acquisition.

So good bye. We didn’t know Jadon Sancho very well. The winger is leaving United, having cost the club £74 million ($94 million) to sign him, just 2.5 years after the most miserable stint imaginable at Old Trafford. He will return to Borussia Dortmund on loan.

Sancho was regarded as a transformative addition who could make the Red Devils legitimate Premier League title contenders and a force to be reckoned with in Europe once again. United spent years courting Sancho while he was tearing it up in the Bundesliga.

Instead, Sancho and Erik ten Hag had a falling out, with the player eventually siding with the manager and United witnessing one of the steepest performance declines in recent memory while leaving one of their highest-paid players to train alone.

Sancho’s awful time at United is a tragic story of opportunity lost and talent squandered. And everyone looks awful when they leave…

lengthy and costly endeavor
It’s easy to conclude that Sancho’s unfortunate tenure with United was doomed from the beginning when you reflect on it. After Sancho finished his first full season in Dortmund’s first team with 14 goals and 20 assists, the Red Devils announced their interest in signing him in 2019. However, they refused to accept Dortmund’s demand and instead paid £15 million ($19 million) to sign Daniel James from Swansea.

But while Sancho continued to improve, scoring 19 goals and dishing out 19 assists in 2020–21, James struggled to stay consistent in his first season at Old Trafford. In the summer of 2020, United increased their pursuit and held talks with Sancho. However, because money was still tight due to the coronavirus pandemic, they declined to meet Dortmund’s asking price of more than £100 million ($127 million). But a year later, they reached an agreement on a £74 million fee, and in July 2021, they made Sancho feel welcome with a chic presentation video.

With United’s abundance of wingers, then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who had been pleading for Sancho’s signing for two years, claimed the forward was a natural fit for the team. However, the actions that followed totally undid all of their efforts to get Sancho into the club.

Not the top priority anymore

Raphael Varane joined United shortly after Sancho’s departure, putting them in a good position to improve on their second-place result from the previous season. But when United announced that they had re-signed Cristiano Ronaldo, 12 years after he had left the club for Real Madrid as a Ballon d’Or winner, the two new arrivals were completely overshadowed.

Sancho was one of the main casualties of Ronaldo’s comeback, which was a commercial bonanza for United but completely upset the team’s balance. To begin with, the England international had not received the No. 7 shirt that United had promised him when he first spoke to them a year prior. He was thrilled to continue in the footsteps of former United “Magnificent Sevens” like George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, and Ronaldo himself. He had worn the No. 7 at Dortmund.

By the time Sancho got there, Edinson Cavani had taken over the No. 7 shirt, so the former Manchester City trainee had to settle for the No. 25. To make matters worse, a few weeks after Ronaldo entered the team, Cavani unexpectedly agreed to trade his squad number for the man known as “CR7.”

Although a player’s complaint about his number may seem insignificant, the entire situation demonstrated that Ronaldo, not Sancho, was the team’s top priority. On the field, it was the same story.

escalating hostilities with Ronaldo

Sancho was United’s fourth-most expensive signing ever after the team took so long to pursue him, but the winger soon lost importance as Solskjaer had to rearrange the entire roster to make room for Ronaldo.

Before being fired in November 2021, the Norwegian manager only allowed Sancho four Premier League starts. The forward scored his first goal for United under interim manager Michael Carrick against Villarreal, then scored again a few days later at Chelsea.

Under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, Sancho made progress, but his comeback coincided with a general decline in United’s performance and Ronaldo’s six-game goal drought. Additionally, Ronaldo reportedly attempted to persuade the manager to substitute another striker for Sancho and alter the team’s strategy. According to reports, Rangnick turned down Ronaldo’s suggestion, but he did bench Sancho for Watford’s 0-0 draw. In all competitions, Sancho finished his rookie season with just four goals and three assists.

reborn without the shadow of Ronaldo

While Ronaldo pushed for a transfer from United during the summer of 2022 and began the following season as a reserve, Sancho took center stage and launched into the new campaign, looking for all the world like the player he was at Dortmund.

In the 2-1 victory over Liverpool, he scored a spectacular goal. Afterwards, he scored a crucial goal against Leicester City and another against Sheriff in the Europa League.

“He realized that he needed to make an investment in the material world, so he did. He needs to bring that so he can receive the reward now. He’s just getting started, I’m sure,” Ten Hag exclaimed with delight. “With his potential, there’s much more room for improvement, he can be even more important and contribute with his creativity and scoring goals and assists.”