Former England footballer Steve Bull has questioned whether England and Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho would have had the quality to break into Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City squad.
Dortmund and City clash in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final match-up on Wednesday, with City having clinched a 2-1 victory against a Sancho-less Dortmund.
Sancho spent time in the academy of the Citizens following a move from Watford but opted to move abroad to Germany in search of more regular senior football.
It is a move that has undeniably paid off.
Regular appearances in the Bundesliga have seen Dortmund unearth one of the most coveted wingers in world football, with Sancho finding himself in the highest echelons of Europe’s top leagues for assists, passes attempted and completed, non-penalty goals and successful dribbles.
Clearly, the ex-City man (who now has a thriving England career too) is a coveted creative prospect – but Bull has doubted whether he would break into City’s current setup.
Speaking to FootballFanCast, the ex-Wolves and West Brom forward claimed: “It’s one of them where you look at the quality in Man City’s side and think would he get in that team? They couldn’t see anything in him so they took advantage of Dortmund in selling him.
“Fair play to the lad because he might go to a bigger club and then an even bigger club, but it’s Man City so they can do what they want.”
It is interesting that Bull appears to speak of City’s decision to sell in a positive light given the winger’s success in Germany. Sancho has posted 106 goal involvements in 130 games for Dortmund (as per Transfermarkt) and only turned 21 last month.
Sancho was linked with an eventually unsuccessful transfer saga involving City’s arch-rivals Manchester United, but reports of a potential move in excess of £100 million are a glowing testament to Sancho’s abilities.
City’s UCL clash with Dortmund will be a sentimental moment for Sancho if he is fit enough to feature in a personal battle between past and present – but in Bull’s view, City should have enough to see his current side off without having to regret his sale four years ago.
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