da dobrowin： The winger made his international debut aged 18 after a stunning breakthrough with Borussia Dortmund, but a hugely promising career has hit a wall

da lvbet： Manchester United had tried to sign Jadon Sancho for years. And who could blame them? The winger was a generational talent, and after leaving the English game in search of first-team football, he had taken the Bundesliga by storm, averaging more than a goal contribution in every game for Borussia Dortmund.

After tracking him from 2018 and then opting against a move in 2019 after haggling over his transfer fee, United finally got their man in July 2021, paying £74 million for an England regular and one of the most coveted players in Europe. But fast-forward two years and Sancho has gone from being English football's next great hope into a ghost-like figure.

He was absent from the United squad for several months last season and when he did return, he often gave anonymous performances, looking shorn of the pace, power and invention that had made him such a thrilling prospect. And after only being given cameo roles in United's opening three games of the 2023-24 season, he was completely absent from the squad for the trip to Arsenal.

Fans assumed he must have been injured, but after the match Erik ten Hag gave a surprisingly honest response when asked about Sancho's absence. "On his performance on training we didn't select him," he said. "You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front line, so in this game, he wasn't selected."

Sancho was quick to bite back and defend himself, claiming he had been made "a scapegoat for a long time". Sancho risked getting himself into trouble with his response, but it was actually refreshing to see him fight back. For too long it has felt like his career has stalled, that the fire he used to have has burned out.

GOAL charts the rise and fall of one of England's brightest talent, who went to Germany and conquered but appears lost back in his homeland.

Raised on the mean streets of South London

Sancho was born and raised in Kennington, South London. The capital's south has turned into a footballing hotbed in the last decade, with a 2021 study revealing that 10 per cent of Premier League players all hailed from the same, 10-mile stretch below the River Thames.

Joe Gomez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Eberechi Eze and Tammy Abraham are just some of the players to have emerged from South London's football scene, which was the centre of , a TV series presented by Rio Ferdinand. And Sancho, whose skills were honed in the unforgiving concrete pitches dotted around the area, known as cages, was the area's biggest star.

AdvertisementGettyEducated at Watford

Despite being from south of the river, Sancho's first experience of organised football came north of the capital with Watford, where he moved at the age of seven, remaining until he was 15. Even though he left before he could turn professional, he has very fond memories of his time with the Hornets.

“Watford was a lot of fun,” Sancho told United's website in 2022. “I was happy when I was there and I had a lot of freedom when I was playing. That’s what makes me happy and makes me the best player I can be when I’m just free, doing what I love. At Watford I used to work on a lot of skills and I wanted to show people what I can do."

Getty ImagesMoving to the other side of Manchester

Word of Sancho's talents spread across the country and Manchester City came calling in 2015. Sancho said moving to the Blues "was a good opportunity to get out of the hood. There were a lot of bad influences."

He played in the same Under-18s side as Phil Foden and current Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz, but was itching for a shot at first-team football. When he was left out of Pep Guardiola's squad for the pre-season tour of the United States in 2017 while Foden travelled, Sancho kicked up a fuss and stopped attending training.

Getty ImagesHopping on a plane to Dortmund

While Guardiola did not think Sancho was ready for first-team football, the player thought otherwise and immediately sought a move. Borussia Dortmund were willing takers, snapping him up for around £8m ($10m) in the summer of 2017 and putting him straight into the first-team squad.

Sancho's belief in his own ability was vindicated when he made his first-team debut against Eintracht Frankfurt in October. His first goal came in a 4-0 win against local rivals Bayer Leverkusen in April 2018, the winger setting up two more on the day.