Jadon Sancho reaping rewards of leaving Manchester City

When Jadon Sancho took the bold decision to turn his back on Manchester City and Pep Guardiola at the age of 17 last year, many questioned if it was a wise career move for the prodigious youngster.

Sancho had been earmarked for promotion to the first-team squad at the Etihad along with Phil Foden as the two teammates prepared for the Under-17 World Cup with England, and was being offered £30,000-a-week – more than any academy player in City’s history – to sign a new contract.

Sancho turned it down. The impatient teenager had decided his chances of playing first-team football would be greater if he left City and their assortment of stars and went elsewhere.

He left City and England, and signed for Borussia Dortmund in Germany. It was a big gamble and one that could easily have backfired.

Thirteen months on and Sancho’s star continues to rise. He has made more assists – six – than any player across Europe’s top five leagues despite his first start in Dortmund’s opening seven Bundesliga games only coming in Saturday’s 4-3 win over Augsburg.

Last week, the former Watford winger was rewarded with an improved contract until 2022. On Monday, he linked up with the England squad following his first senior international call-up for the

Nations League games against Croatia and Spain, after Gareth Southgate decided there was no need for Sancho to play for the Under-21s first of all.

Southgate believes the youngster is ready for his chance having described Sancho’s decision to move to Germany as brave. That could be seen as something of an understatement given the nature of his rather acrimonious departure from City.

Guardiola claimed the two sides had shaken hands on a new contract in the summer of 2017, and had planned to take Sancho on the club’s pre-season tour of the US.

However, the player was left behind after he and his representatives indicated that he want to leave the Etihad. Sancho then further antagonised City and Guardiola by not turning up for training for several weeks.

‘There are two sides to the decision and if one side doesn’t want it, it doesn’t want,’ said the City boss. ‘We arrived at an agreement with Sancho, we shake hands, so we offered him a huge deal in terms of the salary.

‘Even after when they say “no”, we met the father and the managers, and the other managers, and with him, but if the player says “no, no, no, no, no”, what can we do?

‘We said, “okay you are not going to travel to the States because if you are not going to sign the contract, you are going to stay here”. After that, for the last two or three weeks he didn’t appear in the training sessions. He should come but he didn’t.

‘I cannot assure even the best players we have, like Sergio Aguero and other ones, that they are going to play. I never did. I am not going to tell you, “I assure you, you will play all the games in the season” to sign the contract. I would be a liar.’

Sancho didn’t have it all his own way, however. City refused to sell to any of their Premier League rivals, and the deadline day deal to Dortmund was worth a total £10million for a player who could possibly have gone for as little as £185,000 compensation under FIFA rules, having signed from Watford little more than two years earlier. There are also sell-on clauses that guarantee City a significant return on their investment in future.

Nor did Sancho’s move come without personal cost to himself. Having earned the Golden Player award at the Under-17 European Championships, he was tipped to be a star at the World Cup in India last October.

Sancho played in the group stages and scored three goals in as many games, but was recalled by Dortmund before the knockout rounds. England went on to beat Spain in the final without him, and Foden won the Golden Ball.

Still, Sancho believed it was the right decision. ‘I looked at who they have right now and the path,’ he said. ‘A lot of young players come to Dortmund and become top, top players. I thought to myself, “wow, that could be me”.

‘They’re proving, by the games I've played, that age doesn't matter. They'll play you if you're good enough.’

At Dortmund, Sancho was handed the No 7 shirt vacated by Ousmane Dembele following his £133.5m move to Barcelona. It was remarkable show of confidence in such a young player and one that was much appreciated.

‘I would have taken any number but getting seven was a big boost to my confidence,’ he added. ‘It doesn’t faze me. It is about coming here and proving myself.’

Sancho has certainly done that. Quick, two-footed and highly skilful, Sancho also an air of unpredictability that makes him a very tricky opponent, even though he still has a habit of over-elaborating and had to be told to stop nutmegging his teammates in training.

He made 12 appearances in his first season at the Westfalenstadion as Dortmund eased him into first-team football, and Sancho became the youngest Englishman to score in the Bundesliga in April when he got the first goal in a 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen as well as making two assists.

More have followed this season – nine in all competitions – as well as his second goal against Nuremberg last month. Another starring role in the 3-0 Champions League win over Monaco last week convinced Southgate that was ready to become the first player born this century to be selected for the England squad.

It is unlikely to be Sancho’s last claim to be fame.