Jadon Sancho is officially a Manchester United player.
I repeat: Jadon Sancho is officially a Manchester United player.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has not kept secret about his long-term interest in the English winger and negotiations with Borussia Dortmund have been going on for more than 18 months. They tried and failed to sign him a year ago, much to the delight of rival fans, but the deal is now finally over … and with a cool £ 30m discount to start.
No matter how you cut it, it’s obviously a very good signing by United. This is someone who, at just 21, has 50 club goals behind him and has been one of the most creative players in the world for the past two seasons.
Nothing is guaranteed in football, but to mark the occasion, we have gone and simulated an entire season on the terrifyingly realistic football manager 2021 to see how Sancho goes on at Old Trafford.
Let’s take a look, shall we?
At the time of writing, Sancho has been a United player for just three hours. So no, he does not play for United in the game.
Before we begin, we must give the database a helping hand. Sancho has moved from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United for 73 million pounds.
However, we did not police the rest of United’s transfer business, and that led to some other signings that were really … interesting.
A spreading window saw the side splash out more than £ 100 million on Flamengos Gerson, Roma’s Jordan Veretout, Lazio’s Luis Felipe, Levantes’ David Okereke and Barças Emerson.
And for some reason, the 30-year-old Guido Pizarro on free transfer. Because you can not have too many midsummer.
And so Sancho stacks statistically.
4.5 * potential, 18 for dribbling, 16 for tempo and 16 for emotion … wowee.
Kristallkulan, who is Football Manager, predicts a mixed start to life at Old Trafford. Sancho converts a penalty in the Community Shield when United pip competes with City for the trophy, but he then pulls a pitch in a Premier League opening day defeat against Fulham and fails to hit the net in five consecutive matches.
Once he breaks the seal, however, the goals begin to flow.
Four goals in the next five matches help United to a victory that creates them as true title challengers. And while October sees winning momentum stopped by Man City and Barcelona, United win ten of their first 13 matches and look very good.
With the reappointment of Veretout, United then help to a vengeful victory over Barça at Old Trafford, but this is followed by defeats against Liverpool and Leicester which means that the Red Devils do not hope for the title.
Mixed fortunes follow for both Sancho and United – the winger only nets once between October and the end of January – but at the turn of the year they are still on the hunt for all four major trophies.
And then everything falls apart.
The second half of the season gives some positive results – an EFL Cup final win over Arsenal, with Sancho making a brace, promises a triumphant end to the season.
But they are brought back down to earth by Chelsea in the FA Cup, and defeats against Inter, Man City and Liverpool end their hopes of picking up a third season.
It is Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford who do heavy lifting when United get things on the right track towards the end of the season, but it is too little, too late for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team.
The League Cup was as good as for United, but Rashford’s 19 goals lead them to a Champions League place. They finish 12 points behind eventual champions Liverpool – who beat Man City to the title difference.
And when it comes to Sancho? It was not the electric return to English football that many expected.
But 12 goals and eight assists in 50 games is not the worst return for his first season in the Premier League.
Something to build on, anyway. Over to you, real Sancho.
