‘Making people dance’
TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand believes Jadon Sancho has found his “swagger” again after returning to Borussia Dortmund.
With Euro 2024 approaching, Ferdinand says it is great to see the 24-year-old hitting peak form again.
“He was shaking and baking top players,” he told TNT Sports. “Heâs making people dance. It was a joke what he has done today.
“We havenât seen this probably since he was at Dortmund. He isnât just a dribbler, he isn’t somebody who just runs and runs.
“Heâs a footballer who wants to come in and play one-twos, be part of the game and the tempo. The arrogance is a great point as well, what I saw today more than anything which Iâve been waiting to see, and all other Man Utd fans have been thinking âWhere is it?â
“I saw cage football Sancho today. This is the kid who grew up in cages with that arrogance and that little bit of swagger. Iâve been sitting here saying itâs there, but we havenât seen it.”
The midfielder, who was part of the youth ranks at Watford and Manchester City earlier in his career, rose to prominence in 2017 after joining Dortmund.
He spent four years in Germany, scoring 50 goals in 137 appearances for the club across all competitions.
That convinced Manchester United to splash out over ÂŁ70m to sign him in 2021, but he never truly found his feet at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand says Red Devils supporters will be wondering why he failed to turn out these kind of performances during his time with the club.
“Heâs in the groove,” he continued. “When someone gets in the groove, we see it in different sports. When theyâre in the groove and the confidence is there, they churn these performances out.
“He will come off this pitch on a high, weâll see all these people going on about it on social media, and love it, and rightly so. I hate to go back, but I want to know what happened at Man Utd. Why didnât it go well there?
“Thatâs what the frustration used to be at Man Utd. Heâs not doing that, beating people, facing the defender up and going âRight, Iâm going to go past you.â
“Also, the physicality of the Premier League. Was that an issue? I donât know. There are so many different things you look at and think what it could be, only Jadon can tell us that.
“But you look at the way he played in a Champions League semi-final, you canât devalue that. For him and Man Utd there is a plus point tonight, the value has gone back up again.
“Most teams are probably looking to loan him or nick him for very cheap. I think teams will be looking at that performance and go ‘If I can get anywhere near that on a regular basis, I will have some of that.'”
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