‘Show the world’ as Jadon Sancho eyes Wembley redemption with Borussia Dortmund

DORTMUND – Jadon Sancho is seeking redemption on home soil when he returns to England with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final clash with Real Madrid on June 1.

The Wembley showpiece will be a chance to prove that his unhappy Manchester United spell was a result of the dysfunction at the club, rather than a personal failing.

The 24-year-old returned to Dortmund in January, the club where he made his name as a teenager before his big-money move to United in 2021.

He has impressed during his six-month loan, particularly in the Champions League, where he helped Dortmund reach the final for just the third time in history.

Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who was crucial in bringing Sancho back to the club, said the Englishman showed his resolve during a difficult period.

“It was not an easy situation in January to bring Jadon to Dortmund,” he said on May 28.

“But we knew Jadon had the skills to perform, to be decisive and to bring us to another level. Jadon is such a great person, a great player, and the experience he had in Manchester helped him to perform now.

“He will be very important for us on Saturday. He will show the world that Jadon Sancho is really back.”

Sancho joined the German club aged just 17 from the Manchester City academy in 2017, a bold move at a time when English players rarely left the island.

His move not only foreshadowed a trend of English talent heading abroad, but he also became a crucial attacking component in a freewheeling Dortmund side.

In four years at the Westfalenstadion, Sancho scored 50 goals and laid on 64 more in 137 games. He won the 2021 German Cup shortly before joining United for a fee of €85 million (S$124 million).

At Old Trafford, he scored just 12 times in 82 appearances. He fell out with manager Erik ten Hag earlier this season and came back to Dortmund in January having not played football since September.

The player himself also has another point to prove, as his uptick in form failed to earn him a return to Gareth Southgate’s 33-man England training squad for this summer’s European Championship.

Dortmund captain Emre Can, who was also left out of Germany’s Euro squad, said the snub would motivate both players.

He added that Sancho was “first class”, explaining that “he didn’t play for months so it’s not easy to come back and perform like this” and therefore deserved a spot in the national squad at least.

“Of course he’s not happy about it. I’m not in the Germany squad and I’m not happy about it,” he said.

“It gives you the extra motivation to show the coaches and national teams that we deserve to be there, and that’s what we will try to do on Saturday.”

The scale of Dortmund’s task is not only illustrated by a mammoth gap in silverware, with Real boasting 14 Champions League trophies while the German side have only one – in 1997.

Real could afford to spend a fee in excess of €100 million to bring Jude Bellingham from Dortmund 12 months ago.

The England midfielder has been a revelation in the Spanish capital and has proven crucial in Real’s La Liga triumph and their run to another European final.

Dortmund, who finished fifth in the Bundesliga, 27 points behind Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen, relied on loan deals as they re-tooled in January.

Alongside Sancho, they brought in wing-back Ian Maatsen on a six-month loan from Chelsea.

It proved to be a good deal, as his speed and control down the left flank has been crucial in allowing the former to flourish up the pitch.

Maatsen called Sancho an “amazing player” and said that “we felt each other straight away on the pitch”.

It is all up to Sancho now to “show the world” who he really is. AFP