Jadon Sancho is yet to really show his best form for Man Utd two years after joining the club from Borussia Dortmund for £73million.
Erik ten Hag has told Jadon Sancho he must find more consistency in his performance at a higher level as he continues to adapt from life in the Bundesliga to playing for Manchester United in the Premier League.
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Sancho has had a fairly underwhelming two years at Old Trafford since his £73million switch from the Bundesliga, starting 41 of a possible 76 Premier League games and scoring just nine goals, with six assists.
The 23-year-old ended last season out of Ten Hag’s best team, with Antony and Marcus Rashford tending to operate in the wide areas, while Alejandro Garnacho is also pushing hard for more first-team involvement.
Sancho has spent some time playing as a false nine in pre-season, with Ten Hag short of central options with Anthony Martial still recovering from an injury and Rasmus Hojlund yet to sign, and the Dutchman does believe he can play through the middle as well as wide.
But he has yet to really sparkle in a United shirt and has lost his place in the England squad as well and Ten Hag wants Sancho to start finding an end product more regularly.
“He has the skills so also for him it’s the same, he has to show consistently that he can make a huge contribution,” said Ten Hag.
“When you are a front player that end product is the key. So make sure you are making the key actions, the final pass and get your goals in, because that’s why he is here. The rest has to be good as well.
“That is your foundation and then you meet all the other standards that we expect from a player. On a high level every third or fourth day.”
Sancho scored 38 goals and provided 45 assists in 104 Bundesliga appearances, but having produced just a goal or an assist every 90 minutes in Germany, that is now down to one every third full game or so in the Premier League.
He hasn’t tended to sparkle in the same way he did for Dortmund, although Ten Hag believes that isn’t necessarily a fair reflection and that the attacker is still finding his feet in adapting to a higher level.
“The Bundesliga is perfect preparation for the Premier League. It’s tougher [in the Premier League],” he said.
“I saw many games at Dortmund and Jadon is not such a different player in Dortmund as he is here. But also for him, he has to get more consistency in his performance but he has to do it at a higher level.”
Ten Hag gave Sancho three months off last season to overcome what he described as “physical and mental issues” and there was a brief uptick in his form when he returned to the side in February.
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Sancho was among the first players back in pre-season training this summer and Ten Hag believes those issues are a thing of the past for now.
“In this moment he is in a very good vibe. He decides how he is, how his mood and vibe is,” he said. “He has a lot of energy, we have all seen that from the moment he came back. He wants to enjoy football and be successful.”
