Jadon Sancho might be on his way to becoming the most expensive English player with transfer news from Manchester United looming in. Although this isn’t quite enough to impress Gareth Southgate. The English winger had been on the bench against Croatia and even when England couldn’t create chances against Scotland he wasn’t sent on.
Back in Germany, where Sancho plays for Borussia Dortmund, fans rate him one of the best in the world. These fans are growing agitated not seeing him play for his nation.
Christoph Kramer, the German World Cup winner, and pundit on ZDF, believes that the only reason why Sancho was not being used is if there would be a disciplinary issue. But according to Gareth himself, there is no such issue! Bundesliga expert Raphael Honigstein also tweeted on the matter: ‘A team leaving out Sancho twice must be phenomenal in the attack.’
Southgate’s POV on the Situation
Sancho is coming back after a stellar season helping Dortmund win the German Cup and finish third in Bundesliga. Southgate hasn’t got anything against the player who is so gifted. Here’s what he said earlier: “We’ve got some explosive options — and a lot of them are young players and experiencing a big tournament for the first time. Jadon is in that mix. He’s trained well the last few days and of course, we have those decisions to make.”
Southgate believed that the lower table clubs of Germany aren’t good in quality with respect to the English League. This is why he said that Sancho’s stats last season mean little to him. But then again, if Sancho was to join ManU next season, there will be no doubting his capability.
Sancho to England?
Sources at Dortmund have suggested that Manchester is very close to signing the winger. The latest proposal includes a record £75million transfer fee with some increments and judicious bonuses. United wants to close the deal before the end of Euros. This will make him their most expensive player surpassing the £80m United paid for Harry Maguire. He will also become the most expensive player from England.
If we analyze last year’s stats of each England’s wingers’ creativity, Sancho clearly stands out. He records an assist every other game making Kevin De Bruyne the only Premier League player who is better than him at assisting teammates. He is better off his teammates at average shot-creating actions per game, progressive passes, progressive carries, and completing dribbles.
Remember that all this while he was in comparison with extremely talented players like Foden, Sterling, Rashford, and Saka. The only player who comes close to him in stats is Jack Grealish, England’s current favorite.
But still, Southgate wants to start Foden. The reason is obviously the huge potential the 21-year-old has shown in the last season. It was an absolute breakout season for the youngster. But come to think of it, Sancho is just 2 months older than Foden. Speaking of head-to-head stats, in the last 2 seasons, Sancho has 25 goals and 27 assists to Foden’s 14 goals and 7 assists. Sancho has this in just 7 more appearances.
Foden might be the breakout star of the season but the numbers show that there are better options on the bench. While England is struggling on the pitch finding it hard to create more chances, Southgate might want to look at his bench.
