Jadon Sancho’s Manchester United exit will sum his Old Trafford career

Manchester United are set to see Jadon Sancho leave on a free transfer this summer

In the summer of 2021, Jadon Sancho was supposed to be Manchester United’s marquee signing, the recruit to catapult Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side from second place to the title. United had spent years chasing him before finally agreeing a £72.9 million fee to bring him back to Manchester – only this time in red.

It was July 23 when Sancho stood in front of United cameras, arms outstretched, stating: “This is my club. This is where I belong.”

Everything that followed told a tale of almost the opposite. Just over a month later, Cristiano Ronaldo strutted through Carrington’s front doors. Debate surfaces to this day as to whether it was a decision that threw Solskjaer’s plans wayward; but suddenly United’s shiny new toy from Dortmund was not the hot topic at Old Trafford anymore.

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At the time, Sancho was unique in the sense that he was an English player adapting to the English league. At just 21 years old, he had the time and the evidence suggesting he could after three astonishing years in Germany – but his new environment became a whirlwind soap opera. One of the hardest parts about joining United is the attention combined with the pressure of previous success, and Sancho became one of many who suffered.

Since signing five years ago, Sancho has been back on loan to Dortmund, where he only managed two goals and two assists in 14 Bundesliga games; on loan to Chelsea where the West London club opted to pay £5 million not to sign him; and is now at Aston Villa.

He is set to leave United as a free agent in the summer and Dortmund are among the teams being linked with him. The England international has started to find some recent form in the Midlands. With two assists in his last two games and impressive performances to accompany them, the loanee has played a key role in revitalising Villa after a rough patch. Unai Emery might begin looking at him as a permanent option.

None of that will help United earn any sale return on their investment. Sancho’s spell at United has been a disaster, leaving on a free transfer would just sum that up.