Marcel Sabitzer details 'pressure' on Manchester United teammate Jadon Sancho

Marcel Sabitzer believes the added pressures of playing for Manchester United have affected Jadon Sancho, but insists the winger remains an exceptional player.

Sancho joined United for around £73million in the summer of 2021, following a transfer saga that stretched from the previous year. The 23-year-old arrived at Old Trafford with plenty of hype, following three prolific seasons in Germany with Borussia Dortmund.

But things have not been so easy since arriving in Manchester, with just 11 goals and five assists in two seasons. Sancho was absent from the United side after three months away from the first-team picture, with Erik ten Hag sending him to the Netherlands to work on his fitness.

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Sabitzer, who signed on loan from Bayern Munich in January, will have faced Sancho during the Austrian's time at RB Leipzig. And the midfielder insists the man he saw in the Bundesliga was 'exceptional', suggesting the pressure of joining United for such a huge fee may have had an impact.

"Jadon Sancho was an exceptional player in the Bundesliga," he told Sky Germany. "He had stats that were extraordinary. He unconsciously put pressure on himself. When you join the Premier League, specifically to Man Utd for 80, 90 million, there's a lot of spotlight.

"The pressure is different than when you play for Dortmund. The league here is even more intense. Maybe he's the type of player that takes a little longer to settle into the league and deal with public pressure."

Sancho returned to the first-team picture in the Carabao Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest in February and has been in and out of Ten Hag's starting lineup since. The wide man added three goals to his tally in that time