Man United's Reasons For Signing Sancho: Consistency, Creativity And Versatility

Jadon Sancho (Instagram @england)

JAKARTA - Not Harry Kane, not Jack Grealish, not Raphael Varane, not even Pau Torres, not to mention Erling Haaland. It turns out that the first player Manchester United signed in the 2021 summer window was Jadon Sancho.

"Manchester United is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement in principle with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of Jadon Sancho," the Red Devils said on their website on Friday.

"This agreement is still subject to contractual and medical terms which will be finalized after Jadon's involvement in the UEFA European Championship (European Cup)," continued Man United.

Except for Odion Ighalo and Edinson Cavani, who both entered during the window-dressing of the transfer market, United have recently chosen young players as their transfer targets.

Donny van de Beek, Amad Diallo and even Bruno Fernandes, who joined Old Trafford at the age of 24, are examples.

The contract for the 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund player itself is said to be worth £73 million or equivalent to Rp1.46 trillion.

Although people know that Manchester United have been eyeing Sancho for a long time, it's still a surprising choice because all this time they thought that the Red Devils would prioritize defenders and strikers who have been considered Man United's shortcoming.

After all, United already have a player of the same type as Sancho who plays in the same position as him, Mason Greenwood.

Or maybe Ole Gunnar Solksjaer changed his mind after seeing Victor Lindelof who was often criticized as not suitable for accompanying Hary Maguire, put on an impressive display at Euro 2020, especially when stemming a wave of Spanish attacks in the group stage match, so that he denied the search for a new central defender.

Solksjaer is also unperturbed by England manager Gareth Southgate's decision not to field Sancho, even though the European Cup is more than halfway through.

United seem to have a hard time forgetting the winger and the lower prices during the pandemic made the Red Devils decide to finally buy Sancho they have been eyeing since last summer.

For some circles and the media, Sky Sports among them, Sancho's choice will actually help Mason Greenwood shine at Old Trafford.

️2️⃣Class, @Sanchooo10! pic.twitter.com/CsuKoqDFuX

— England (@England) June 15, 2021

Although Solskjaer's squad is considered to need players who operate in areas that are not Sancho's specialty, United cannot ignore the fact that Sancho is one of the most impressive young players in the world right now.

United's insistence on chasing Sancho, according to Sky Sports, is motivated by three factors which include the player's consistency, creativity and versatility.

Sancho's performance was sluggish at the start of last season where for 1,298 minutes he could not score. During that period he was unable to fully concentrate on the pitch as he was plagued by speculation over his future with Dortmund, particularly the issue of a move to Old Trafford.

Consistent, creative, versatile

But it wasn't for long, because until the second half of last season he was shining again. His performance statistics during his time in Germany are variable, showing the 21-year-old has been remarkably consistent.

Even though at the start of the season he was confused by speculation of moving clubs, Sancho was still able to finish last season with a score of eight goals and 11 assists. And in total since the 2018-2019 season, he has made 78 assists. This record makes him one of the top 10 players in the big European leagues.

In that list he equals Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane who was the Premier League's top scorer and assists last season. This confirms how effective Sancho is.

What makes him more valuable is his young age. No other 21-year-old in Europe has matched Sancho's achievements in the last three years. Six of Europe's top 10 players have scored that many goals and assists at the age of 30 or older.

Ending the day in style.😎 @Sanchooo10 pic.twitter.com/l1i9m1o6lm

— England (@England) June 9, 2021

Sancho has not even reached his peak age and this makes United even more confident in signing him because he will continue to improve until the peak of his career that will help United through the following seasons.

Manchester United's decision to buy Sancho surprised a number of people, considering that the Red Devils already had Mason Greenwood in the same role as Sancho.

Greenwood, who is two years younger than Sancho, enjoyed an exciting season last season, scoring eight goals in 14 games and making 52 appearances in various competitions. He has a bright future at Old Trafford.

It is true that Greenwood and Sancho have similarities, in terms of speed, acceleration, and the ability to finish chances. But there were things Sancho had that Greenwood didn't have. What is that? Creativity.

Sancho is more of a goalscorer than a goalscorer. Last season he was in the top five of the Bundesliga in terms of assists, and created golden chances and chances. Greenwood does not have such a convincing record.

Sancho's assist record over the past three seasons is even more impressive. He has only lost to Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, and even has seven more assists than Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

What also benefits Sancho from Greenwood is his dribbling ability. He is calm and intelligent in making decisions on how the final pass is managed.

"He is capable of creating dangerous situations with his technique, pace and dribbling," said Mueller. "There are other dribblers of the same quality in the Bundesliga, but they can't make a decision as extraordinary as this."

Sancho does prefer a role on the right, but he is also able to operate equally well in every attacking position. Borussia Dortmund even installed it in the wing-back areas.

This advantage actually helped Solksjaer in reconfiguring his attacking team without having to sacrifice Greenwood. To that end, Sancho's style of play can actually help Greenwood transform into the center striker that United are looking for.

Greenwood, like Marcus Rashford, is very dangerous when running ahead of the opponent's defense.

And Sancho has vision and technical quality in seeing and executing cross-defense passes.

In the Bundesliga in the last three seasons, with the exception of Joshua Kimmich and Mainz's Jean-Paul Boetius, no one has matched Sancho in terms of vision and technical quality.

Therefore, it also makes sense if the Red Devils still recruit Sancho.

Maybe Southgate needs to give Sancho a few minutes to play at Euro 2020 so that his qualities can be seen by all. But for MU it is no longer needed.