Jadon Sancho must do what Marcus Rashford did to save Manchester United career

By the end of next season Jadon Sancho will have two years left on his Manchester United contract and it might be approaching the time when a decision has to be taken on his future.

As with most modern deals, the five-year contract Sancho signed when joining from Borussia Dortmund for £73millon includes the option of an extra year, so he could be tied down until 2027, but to earn that he needs to show a considerable improvement on his first couple of seasons.

It maybe sums up United's occasional transfer misfortune that the player on which they struck what seemed at the time to be an excellent deal has so far failed to live up to that value. In 2020 Borussia Dortmund wanted £108million for Sancho and United refused to play ball. A year later they had saved themselves £35million.

The problem is Sancho doesn't look like a £73million winger on the evidence of his two years at Old Trafford. His first campaign was difficult, with the season unravelling under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then falling apart completely when Ralf Rangnick came in.

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But Sancho should have suited Rangnick's style, given his Bundesliga experience, and he certainly looked like a player who would benefit from Erik ten Hag's methods when the Dutchman arrived. Ten Hag's clear structures of play and his considered coaching methods have improved plenty of players in his first season at the club.

After a bright pre-season and a respectable first couple of months, Sancho wasn't one of them, however. The 23-year-old needed the three-month break he got during the season as he struggled physically and mentally, but again a promising return to the side fizzled out.

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