Jadon Sancho has been handed a brutal verdict on his first start for Aston Villa after signing on loan from Manchester United earlier this month.
Manchester United have spent nearly two years looking to offload Jadon Sancho, but despite several approaches for the former Manchester City youngster, a permanent exit has never materialised.
He spent last season on loan at Chelsea, though Enzo Maresca’s side chose to pay £5 million to send him back rather than activating the £25 million buy option.
United have continued to hold firm on that £25 million valuation and came close to an agreement with AS Roma earlier in the window, only for Sancho to turn the move down.
As the English transfer window drew to a close, Rúben Amorim’s side reached a deal for the winger to spend the season on loan at Aston Villa, with the Midlands club set to cover at least 80% of his wages along with an undisclosed loan fee.
Redknapp offers brutal Sancho verdict
After signing for the Villains just over two weeks ago, Sancho was able to have his first taste of competitive football for Unai Emery’s side during their Carabao Cup tie against Brentford.
The winger was an unused substitute in their 0-0 draw with Everton on the weekend, but started and played 74 minutes as Villa crashed out against Brentford on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
For the second half of last season, Villa had Marcos Asensio and Marcus Rashford on loan, and after losing the pair, some at the club are hoping new signings Sancho and Harvey Elliot, who scored on the night, could somewhat pick up where they left off.
However, after failing to have much of an impact on Tuesday evening, Sancho was hit with a hard verdict from former Tottenham player Jamie Redknapp.
“I don’t think Sancho’s an upgrade on what they had with Rashford and (Marco) Asensio,” Redknapp said on Sky Sports following the fixture.
Emery needs Sancho to get fit
Prior to his start for Villa, Sancho’s last competitive fixture was the Europa Conference League final, where he came off the bench for Chelsea and scored during a 4-1 win over Antony’s Real Betis on 28 May.
Speaking after the game, Emery admitted that they need to get Sancho and the club’s other recruits fully fit and playing competitive football as soon as possible, with Elliot and Sancho two players who must adapt.
“We have to build a team again to be as strong as possible in our structure and get new players to adapt as soon as possible,” said Emery.
He then added, “In the offensive positions, we need to get Sancho fit and get Elliott adapted to us.”
Sancho is in the final year of his current contract at United, but if he plays well at Villa Park, the club may choose to trigger their one-year extension option and sell him next summer. But if Sancho fails to produce, Amorim’s side may just let him depart for free instead.
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