United’s new hot acquisition Jadon Sancho has neither scored nor assisted in his first six appearances for the Reds since his heavily-mooted £73m move from Borussia Dortmund. However, although this has raised some concern, the alarm signals are not really going off yet as the winger has been backed to succeed at Old Trafford soon enough the moment he gets better acquainted with the environment and his team-mates.
The 21-year-old winger completed a highly-anticipated move to Old Trafford during the summer from Borussia Dortmund. Sancho has suffered a slow start, not due to any fault of his own, after not having had the full benefits of a pre-season acclimatization and fitness warm-ups due to his involvement with Euro 2020 and England,
Although no goals or assists in his first six appearances for the club have given rise to some criticisms, former United Women’s coach Casey Stoney believes manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wouldn’t be paying attention to any of that at this early juncture.
Speaking to Sky Sports as a pundit before the game, Stoney said: “As a manager you don’t care about the money, you’ve acquired a great asset. You’ve got strength in depth. What Ole will want now is two players in every position and he’s got that especially in that top area. Mason Greenwood is one of the best finishers in the club, Ole’s said that before.
“He’s going to have a fight to make sure he consistently plays but I think that’s a good thing for a manager.”
Former West Ham striker Carlton Cole, also serving as a pundit, believes that Sancho just needs time to adapt before kicking on and becoming a true United player.
“He hasn’t hit the ground running. I’d say it’s a different environment [why he has started slow] when you’re that young and you come to a place of this stature for that amount of money, that’s going to tell on you, I don’t care who you are, that will tell on you.
“What has helped is Cristiano coming in, it’s taken a lot of the pressure off of him so he can grow organically. I really think he will be one of those players that grow into the Man United shirt and United way. He’s definitely up there, one for the future obviously, but it’s money well spent.”