In Jadon Sancho, Manchester United have a thrilling, tricky winger whose game is inspired by the dancing samba style of Brazil's greatest forwards and the gritty street football of south London. His play is fearless, skilful and expressive and he thrives when isolating defenders and taking them on, one-on-one.
Born in London on 25 March , Sancho grew up in Kennington, idolising Ronaldinho and playing cage football amid the capital's high-rise buildings. He joined Watford's youth set-up aged seven and moved into the club's partner school as a boarder four years later, thus avoiding the long travel time across from south London.
Aged 14, Sancho left the capital and its surrounds, joining Manchester City where he excelled in the youth set-up. Regularly dominating games, it quickly became clear that Sancho was one of English football's most exciting young talents, a fact confirmed when he was named Player of the Tournament at the Under European Championship in May The London-born winger gradually settled into life in a new country and, despite immediately handing the year-old the number seven shirt, Dortmund were initially cautious in their approach.
Sancho made his Bundesliga debut as a late substitute on 21 October , his first start the following January, and then truly ignited the spark with a goal β his first in the league β and two assists in a win against Bayer Leverkusen in April From there, he kicked on in stunning fashion, with October being an outstanding month.
Within the space of a few weeks, Sancho made his England debut, became the first player born in the s to score in the UEFA Champions League when he struck against Atletico Madrid, and was named Bundesliga Player of the Month for the first time. A hat-trick β his first in senior football β against SC Paderborn in May was made more notable by the celebration for his first goal, in which Sancho revealed a T-shirt reading 'Justice for George Floyd'.
