When Lionel Messi stole the show once again, as he\u2019d always done, for Barcelona on Sunday night with a hat-trick of assists in the 3-2 win at Real Betis, he became just the second player to reach double figures in goals and assists in Europe\u2019s top five leagues this season.<\/p>\n
The only other player who\u2019s achieved this incredible feat is none other than Borussia Dortmund\u2019s Jadon Sancho, the 19 year-old rising star who\u2019s one of the most sought after players in Europe today.<\/p>\n
Messi now has 14 goals and 11 assists for the Spanish champions this year, while Sancho has 12 goals and 13 assists in the 19 Bundesliga games this season. This is the second straight campaign in which the young winger has posted double figures for both.<\/p>\n
And if that isn\u2019t ample testimony of his awesome abilities and immense potential, Jadon Sancho also currently leads the Bundesliga-heavy CIES study ranking the most effective footballers in Europe\u2019s top five leagues.<\/p>\n
Comparing players operating in the Bundesliga, the English Premier League, Spain\u2019s La Liga, Italy\u2019s Serie A and France\u2019s Ligue 1, the study measured attributes such as goals and assists, shot and passing accuracy, strength in possession and risk-taking.<\/p>\n
BVB\u2019s Jadon Sancho leads the way with a score of 99.0, with teammate Witsel (96.7), and Bayern duo Pavard and Thiago (both 96.0) completing the top four. Alaba and Boateng (both 94.0) round out the the top 10, level with Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain 94.0), and behind Alisson Becker (Liverpool, 96.0), Casemiro (Real Madrid (95.3) and Mo Salah (Liverpool, 95.2).<\/p>\n
Sancho\u2019s place atop the CIES rankings doesn\u2019t come as a surprise as the 19 year-old has more than capably demonstrated with his incredible goals and assists tally so far this season. He has also scored and assisted in seven of his last nine league outings, having done so in a Europe-leading nine matches so far this season.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also the youngest ever player to score 25 Bundesliga goals. His most recent strike was in the 5-0 trouncing of Union Berlin.<\/p>\n
The 19 year-old once again showed why he\u2019s one of the hottest young stars today during Borussia Dortmund\u2019s game against Bayer Leverkusen when the latter had taken the lead through Kevin Volland in the 20th minute but Dortmund equalised moments later when Mats Hummels nodded home Sancho\u2019s corner kick.<\/p>\n
Jadon Sancho\u2019s form has been nothing short of spectacular this season and the young lad has been linked with moves this summer to Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.<\/p>\n
\u201cJadon\u2019s a world-class player, no question about that,\u201d Dortmund boss Lucien Favre said in December after Dortmund sealed their passage to the Champions League knockout stages.<\/p>\n
The 19 year-old winger has been one of the quickest rising young stars in Europe shining in the German Bundesliga. Even just a cursory glance at Jadon Sancho\u2019s Borussia Dortmund numbers for the 2019-20 season would suffice to send tingles down the spine, especially the way he seems to make it all look so simple and normal the way he does his spellbinding football wizardry.<\/p>\n
Whatever early questions there were over his consistency are long gone. On the contrary, he\u2019s now already showing the football world the ceiling is so much higher than anyone could even imagine. Against Cologne on Friday night, Sancho did a Speedy Gonzales number and wasted no time right off the gun.<\/p>\n
The clock registered barely less than a minute, 52 seconds to be exact, when he coolly presented the opener for Raphael Guerreiro with effortless ease as if to say, \u201cNo worries, anytime, dude!\u201d<\/p>\n
When a 19 year-old upstart demonstrates with such apparent ease how he can make deadly tactical moves within just 52 seconds of play from kick-off, it really makes one wonder what makes whizkids like this young man tick. He was equally nifty off the mark in the second half, beating Timo Horn high to his left and keeping Rafael Czichos on the backfoot and totally baffled.<\/p>\n
Of course it shouldn\u2019t come as any surprise that wunderkind Jadon Sancho is now donning the national colours of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.<\/p>\n
He turns 20 on 25 March 2020. When phenomenal is made to look normal, it\u2019s scary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"