Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has reiterated his ‘love’ for former player Jadon Sancho, while also claiming that the England winger is not appreciated enough in his home country.
Watzke made the comments to German media outlet SPORT1 after Sancho, who has made an indifferent start to life at Manchester United, failed to make it off the bench during the Red Devils’ disappointing home defeat by Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Borussia Dortmund CEO Claims Jadon Sancho is Under-Appreciated in England
Watzke Blames National Team Status for Sancho’s Apparent Struggles
Hans-Joachim Watzke, Dortmund’s CEO since 2005, appeared to take a swipe at Sancho’s managers at club (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) and international (Gareth Southgate) level when discussing the player.
Watzke said: “I love Jadon Sancho. When you see him playing, you get tears in your eyes. It hurts my soul that he is given so little consideration.
“I think his problem is that he’s not set in the English national team.”
Watzke’s comments will reflect a little harshly on England manager Gareth Southgate. Southgate has been unafraid to call upon young players and has selected Sancho on no fewer than 22 occasions at senior international level. At the age of 21, this stands Sancho in good stead and suggests the player is firmly in his manager’s thoughts despite his penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final shootout.
Manchester United Game-Time the Greater Concern
The greater concern for Sancho at present appears to be the start he has made to his Manchester United career. The London-born winger has swiftly fallen out-of-favour at Old Trafford and is currently unable to break into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preferred starting-XI.
Sancho started for a second-string Red Devils side in the Carabao Cup third-round tie against West Ham United. But the winger was unable to influence the proceedings as David Moyes’ Hammers dumped their hosts out of the competition.
Days later in the Premier League, Sancho found himself relegated to the substitutes’ bench. Solskjaer did not even bring Sancho on as Aston Villa left Old Trafford with all 3 points after a hugely impressive performance.
Some of Sancho’s issues in his new surroundings have been no fault of his own. Against Young Boys in the Champions League, the wide player was substituted in the first half of the match following the sending-off of right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, with his confidence perhaps taking a hit as a result.
Sancho still has some way to go to make his mark in a United shirt. But, with a few more matches under his belt, the young talent will surely prevail.
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