Alessandro Del Piero is right - Man Utd transfer flop must make stunning return to achieve 'destiny'

Football is a funny game. Not always funny as in ‘ha ha’, more funny as in ‘weird’. It was only a matter of months ago that Jadon Sancho was living a life of imposed hermitry at Manchester United, ostracised by Erik ten Hag and his plans, exiled to the ignominy of the Red Devils’ youth team.

Fast forward to Wednesday night, and the winger was the talk of the continent after having put in a dazzlingly influential performance in Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League semi-final first leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

Sancho quite simply could not stop dribbling. Or, to put it more accurately, nobody could stop him dribbling. By half time, the 24-year-old had already completed more successful dribbles than he had in the entirety of any of his 58 Premier League appearances for United. Come the full time whistle, he had racked up a complete dozen - the most in the Champions League this season, as well as the most ever by an Englishman in the competition, and the most in a semi-final since the one and only Lionel Messi tormented Sancho’s parent club all the way back in 2008. Jadon, in other words, was playing like a man possessed whenever he was in possession.

It was certainly enough to catch the eye of those who are paid to pontificate on such things. Former England international Owen Hargreaves claimed that the wide man was ‘back to his best’, while ex-Scotland striker Ally McCoist told TNT Sports: ‘Sancho looks like a different player entirely. His body language is like the player Man Utd bought. You can tell a lot from body language and he wants to take people on and play. He certainly looks rejuvenated. It is confidence, he has his mojo back. He is in an environment where he is liked and he looks like a different footballer.’

But perhaps the most intriguing comments of all came from legendary Italian forward Alessandro Del Piero. Analysing Sancho’s display for CBS Sports, he said: ‘If a player like him can play these kind of games, with this kind of quality, you need to go to Man United. Next year maybe, one more year, lets see how he feels, which coach, okay, everything, this kind of player needs to play every year at the top. And Dortmund don’t get me wrong, they deserve to be there, they may go to the final and win the Champions League, but [it would be] something extraordinary for that.

‘With Man United they are supposed to go every year. I know they are struggling, but you have to, you want to achieve with the big clubs and this is the destiny of Man United and the destiny of him at some point. I hope for him that he can go there and perform in that way, with that personality, I really hope so. Tonight he was unbelievable, he was dribbling everybody.’

And Del Piero is, unsurprisingly, absolutely right. On Wednesday, Sancho looked every inch the £73 million force of nature that United thought they were signing back in the summer of 2021. Erik ten Hag must have been watching on from home, scratching his glabrous dome in befuddlement.

When Sancho initially started thriving again upon his return to Dortmund, the accusations from some quarters were that the Bundesliga was an inferior proposition to the rough and tumble of the Premier League. And yet, here we are, with two German clubs in contention to make the Champions League final - Bayern Munich, of course, having drawn with Real Madrid on Tuesday - and with Sancho shining even brighter on the continent than he has in domestic competition.

Where he goes from here is, however, not immediately clear. For his loan with Dortmund to be extended into next season - or indeed for it to be turned into a permanent transfer - would require significant compromise. The Bundesliga outfit would be unable to match Sancho’s wages at Old Trafford, but United cannot afford to simply acquiesce to the departure of such an expensive asset for anything less than a princely sum - especially in the current climate of Profit and Sustainability scrutiny.

Then, of course, there is the Ten Hag issue. While the Dutchman lingers in Manchester, Sancho surely has no future with United. But for how much longer those in charge at Old Trafford will be willing to tolerate the former’s lack of progression remains to be seen. It is certainly not unthinkable that he leaves the club this summer.

And if he does, is there a possibility - as Del Piero alludes to - that Sancho could return to England with view to enacting some kind of wild redemption arc? Based on his performance last night, and speculatively assuming that Ten Hag’s tenure might not be long for this world, it is absolutely something to consider.