Football

Birthday boy Jadon Sancho has Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea on transfer alert


Jadon Sancho leaves his teenage years behind him today.

Now the in-demand England and Borussia Dortmund starlet has to decide where he goes next.

The Manchester City academy graduate was yesterday named as the most valuable player born in the 2000s at £179m by the CIES Football Observatory.

To put this stratospheric price into context, the 20-year-old is judged to be worth double his team-mate Erling Haaland, triple the value of Callum Hudson-Odoi and four times more than Mason Greenwood or Phil Foden.

In the black and yellow shirt of the German side, he is worth his weight in gold.

Jadon Sancho has had an incredible third season in the Bundesliga

Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are all interested in Sancho’s signature this summer, though the transfer market is in a state of flux because of the coronavirus.

What is certain is that Sancho has had an incredible third season in the Bundesliga.

The February Player of the Month has scored 14 goals and provided 15 assists in 23 games and his skills on the European stage have even impressed the only player to have cost more than his latest valuation.

“Jadon is a player I really like watching,” said Neymar after a Champions League meeting last month. “He has a lot of quality.”

Sancho has scored 14 goals and provided 15 assists in 23 Bundesliga games this season

Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc added: “Jadon is a phenomenon. His efficiency at his age is incredible.”

The Londoner’s rapid ascent to the top of the game followed his brave move to leave Pep Guardiola and Manchester City for Dortmund for £10m on transfer deadline day in August 2017, aged just 17.

He did not start a Bundesliga match until January 2018 against Wolfsburg and scored his first goal against Bayer Leverkusen in April.

But despite not having had much game time, Sancho did not lack confidence.

Sancho made his full England debut aged 18 and 201 days in October 2018

“I nutmegged Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer in training, and he told me: ‘Don’t do that again’,” he revealed during his first season.

Sancho made his full England debut aged 18 and 201 days off the bench in the surreal Nations League qualifier in Croatia in October 2018.

Asked to describe himself, Sancho said: “I’m a bit tricky, direct, confident – I believe in myself in one-on-one situations. I used to watch Ronaldinho growing up on YouTube.”

In Germany, he has earned comparisons with Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery for his ability to cut in from the left onto his right foot.

Sancho has been compared to Eden Hazard (above) and Franck Ribery

But his Borussia Dortmund team-mate Axel Witsel said last season: “He reminds me of Eden Hazard, and there’s no reason he can’t be as good as him one day.”

This season has not all been smooth. Sancho was dropped and fined after returning late from England duty last October, and spoke to Gareth Southgate for 25 minutes in November after he was hauled off only 36 minutes into a heavy defeat to Bayern Munich.

“We’ve a duty of care to help him to progress and develop,” said the Three Lions boss. “Any young player is going to have ups and downs.”

Now his transfer value is shooting up, though Dortmund’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has insisted the Bundesliga club does not have to sell.

John Terry wants Sancho to join Chelsea this summer

“I think he has the feeling that the club does have a good future,” Watzke said last month. “In my opinion, I don’t think he wants to leave.”

But Manchester United fans are convinced he hinted he will join them during a live chat this week while John Terry wants the Chelsea fan at Stamford Bridge next season.

“I think Sancho is probably one of the best young players in the world at the moment,” said the former Blues skipper.

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“So he’d be a great addition to Chelsea’s squad and obviously make us better as well.”

All that is for tomorrow. For today, happy birthday Jadon.





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