Manchester United\u2019s new signing, Jadon Sancho, was excellent in England\u2019s emphatic 4-0 rout of Ukraine at Euro 2020.<\/p>\n
It looks as if Gareth Southgate\u2019s current Midas touch cannot seem to do anything wrong at the moment, and everything this current England team is touching under his guidance quickly turns to gold.<\/p>\n
“Creating our own history” seems to be the slogan the Three Lions have been hell-bent on sticking to this summer as they toppled Germany in a knockout game, scored four in a quarter-final, and reached successive tournament semi-finals \u2014 this England team really are rewriting the history books under the mild-mannered Southgate as they reach new heights.<\/p>\n
Southgate could only squeeze in six minutes of game-time for Borussia Dortmund strongman Jadon Sancho\u00a0in England’s first four matches of this European Championship \u2013 which spoke volumes about the strength of the current squad.<\/p>\n
In any other era, any player that Manchester United\u00a0had just splashed solid cash on to sign would have easily been the first name on an England teamsheet.<\/p>\n
Yet Southgate had the choice of handing starts to Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling instead before he finally calling upon the talented Borussia Dortmund winger. Understandably detractors were quick to questionin the England boss for Sancho’s omission, particularly United fans eager to see their new man in tournament action.<\/p>\n
And it was a tad amusing to some that Sancho was immediately handed an England start in the tournament the moment he officially became a United player. A fascinating coincidence, perhaps?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s of course highly inconceivable that Southgate’s decision to bring Sancho in from the cold to feature against Ukraine was related to the fact Ole Gunnar Solskjaer\u2019s bosses had approved the move \u00a0for the 21-year-old \u2013 or at least not directly, in any case.<\/p>\n
Southgate had in fact explained before the Ukraine game that Sancho had been super-sharp in training during the week in which his United transfer edged closer to confirmation. This was likely in major part due to the competition within the England squad, rather than because of the deal itself.<\/p>\n
Sancho was desperate to force his way into the side, and performed like a man with a point to prove against Ukraine, constantly a menace to the defenders and running skilfully with the ball.<\/p>\n
“No, in fact I think Jadon over the last seven days has trained the best level in the time with us,” Southgate told ITV\u00a0before the game when asked if the transfer speculation had affected the winger in any way.<\/p>\n
“You accept there are lots of ongoing transfer situations and nobody is coming in for talks, nobody is going out for talks.<\/p>\n
“But we can’t stop people’s phones ringing and we can’t stop business happening outside of that and you just have to trust the players and they’re all very focused.<\/p>\n
“But there’s so much speculation about all of our players, I don’t pick up every little individual piece but I’m checking in with the players every single day to see how they are and the biggest thing is he’s been very focused in his training and that’s been good.”<\/p>\n
Southgate got it right to pick Sancho, just as Solskjaer appears to have got it right with the transfer.<\/p>\n
The former Dortmund man was England’s risk-taker against Ukraine, taking on the mantle that Grealish and Saka have provided in previous games.<\/p>\n
Whether Sancho\u2019s confidence was boosted by the United transfer going through, or simply due to Southgate’s superb man-management skills in getting him prepared to shine in the quarter-final is still anybody\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n
What now seems obvious to the 20million or so watching BBC One on Saturday night is that Jadon Sancho is built for Manchester United. He can sit alongside club talisman Bruno Fernandes\u00a0as another natural-born risk-taker in the final third for Solskjaer’s side, and perhaps even match the Portuguese in terms of impact after signing for the club.<\/p>\n
He’s had 12 months to prepare for this transfer, so there’s no doubt he has all the attributes to shine on a stage as big as Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
Just like he did when England came calling in Rome, Sancho will be ready.<\/p>\n
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