The 2024 Champions League final saw Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund play against each other at Wembley. On Saturday, 1 June 2024, Jadon Sancho and his partners challenged the most successful club in the competition. The aim was to win the second Champion's League in the German club's history, while Madrid were in search of their 15th European title.
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For the English winger, it was the first Champions League final of his career. A career that has not been without turmoil since it began. At the age of 24, the player has already gone through many difficult phases. Trained at Manchester City, he didn't immediately get his chance in Pep Guardiola's squad. Later, Sancho decided to leave the Premier League's leading team and the League altogether because he didn't want to wait for playing time.
High annual fees
In 2017, Sancho accepted Dortmund's offer and signed his first ever senior contract. Recruited for around £8.4 million in the Ruhr region, Sancho quickly shone with the Yellow and Black team. He even became one of the great hopes of English football. Manchester United did everything in their power to bring him home in 2021, paying around £75.8 million to sign him.
His salary was one of the highest in the team, at £196.000 a week, or over £10 million a year. But his adventure with the Red Devils soon turned into a nightmare. His level of play was far from that which he had displayed in Germany, and he was soon benched by the then Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The arrival of Erik Ten Hag on the Red Devils' bench changed nothing, as the British player did not fit into the Dutch coach's plans.
Dortmund's relaunch does him good
The former Ajax Amsterdam manager criticised Sancho's casual attitude, and the latter was even excluded from the squad. A disciplinary sanction that was hard to take, as he was even denied access to the professional squad's facilities. This was too much for the player, who asked to be loaned out this winter, with Borussia Dortmund taking his former winger back.
The union was a familiar one which proved to work in the past. The Three Lions international is making a smooth recovery at the BvB and is one of the main architects of the German club's successful European campaign.
With the Marsupials, the twirling winger is back to his best. His percussive quality hurt PSG in the Champions League semi-final. During the final at Wembley, he was one of the weapons to keep an eye on for the yellow side. Real's Frenchman, Ferland Mendy, had his work cut out - the whole game turning into a battle between Mendy and Sancho. Unfortunately for the English, Mendy managed to keep his opponent's speed and bewildering dribbling at bay.
What does the future hold for Sancho?
Now that the final is behind him, Jadon Sancho has a month's holiday to think about his future. Sancho has not been called up by Gareth Southgate for England's Euro campaign. In an attacking sector where the Three Lions are awash with talent, it seems the 24-year-old did not impress his coach enough. It remains to be seen where he will play next season. If Erik Ten Hag is sacked at Manchester United, he could get another chance with the Red Devils under a new coach. Unless, of course, he opts to stay at Dortmund, although his salary (roughly £10 million per year) is likely to dampen the interest of German managers.
This article has been translated from Gentside FR.
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Source used:
The Mirror: Jadon Sancho gets last laugh as Man Utd will pay him a fortune to join Borussia Dortmund
