Jadon Sancho is ‘back to his best’ after dazzling for Dortmund in 1-0 win over PSG, claims Owen Hargreaves – as Rio Ferdinand questions ‘why it didn’t go well’ at Man United following exile

Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves wondered why Jadon Sancho was struggling at Manchester United after putting in a great performance for Borussia Dortmund against Paris Saint-Germain.

Niclas Fullkrug’s goal was the difference in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday evening and Dortmund will take a 1-0 lead at Parc des Princes next week.

Sancho was a constant thorn in PSG’s side seemed a very different player to the one who was loaned out to Germany in January after being banned from United’s first team following a high-profile dispute with Erik ten Hag.

Speaking to TNT after the match, Ferdinand and Hargreaves agreed that the 24-year-old had been reinvigorated by a change of scenery after returning to Dortmund.

‘I want to know what happened at Man United. Why didn’t things go well there?,” Ferdinand said.

‘Is it game time or has he not performed well at Manchester United? Was he discouraged because he wasn’t getting playing time?

‘Was it the size of the club, the weight of the shirt? Is it the club? Is it the manager’s fault for not getting the best out of him?’

Hargreaves replied: “It’s all there, it’s all those things. It’s environment.

‘[Tonight] I knew from the first contact that he would play a game like that, because he had a bit of swagger, didn’t he?

And that’s, I think that’s when Jadon is at his best, he’s got a bit of swagger. At United he went safe and played back as a full-back, right?’

Ferdinand added: “That was the frustration at Man United. He does not do that.

‘The physicality of the Premier League is that, was that a problem? Don’t know. But there are so many different things that you look at and think, what could it be? Only Jadon can tell us that.

‘But at the same time you also look at the way he played in the semi-final of the Champions League, you cannot devalue that.’

Sancho emerged as one of European football’s brightest talents during his first spell at Dortmund, before joining United for £73 million in the summer of 2021.

But he never lived up to expectations at Old Trafford, scoring just 12 goals in 82 games in all competitions.

In September, Sancho was banned from United’s first team after a public row with Ten Hag in the aftermath of United’s 3–1 defeat to Arsenal.

Ten Hag said in his post-match press conference that he had left Sancho out of the United squad for the trip to the Emirates ‘due to his performance in training’.

It sparked a furious response from the England international, who effectively called his manager a liar as he dismissed the claims as ‘completely untrue’ and insisted he had been made a ‘scapegoat’ in a lengthy social media post.

Sancho was then forced to train alone and was not allowed to use the first-team facilities, before eventually returning to Dortmund in January.

Although he has failed to reach the heights of his first spell in the Bundesliga, Sancho has looked increasingly comfortable following his return to Germany, with three goals and two assists in 17 appearances in all competitions.

His 12 completed dribbles on Wednesday night were the most in a Champions League semi-final since Leo Messi at the same stage of the competition against United in 2008.

“He just puts people on the ground,” Ferdinand said.

‘He makes people dance. But it was, it was a joke, what he had done today, and we probably haven’t seen this since he was in Dortmund. [for the first time].

Hargreaves was equally impressed.

“At United we didn’t really see him committing people,” he said.

“Jadon just answered a bunch of questions today […] You could criticize him for not being consistent, but today he outplayed every player on that field.”

While it remains to be seen whether Sancho will have a future at Old Trafford under the new INEOS regime, both Ferdinand and Hargreaves agreed his performances in the Champions League were good news for United.

“For him, but also for Man United, there is a plus tonight,” Ferdinand continued.

“The value has gone up again because I think most teams will probably want to loan or nick him for a very, very cheap amount. [fee].

“I think teams will look at those performances now and say, ‘If I can get close to that on a regular basis, I’ll get something out of that.’

Asked if Sancho’s price tag could rise after his performance against PSG, Hargreaves said: ‘Absolutely. Because people weren’t really sure. You know what will happen: you will be sold. Is he being loaned out?

‘I can see it [his talent] again, that is very exciting, because he has gone through a difficult phase.’