Liverpool took a very close look at Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho during his days at Borussia Dortmund, according to LFC writer Neil Jones in his exclusive column for the Daily Briefing today.
Sancho is one of football's big unfulfilled talents at the moment, with the England international looking nothing like the superb attacking player we saw at Dortmund since he made the move to Old Trafford.
Of course, Sancho is far from the first and probably won't be the last big name to have struggles like this, with other world class talents like Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez and Angel Di Maria also having similar problems at United.
Jones admits Liverpool had a past interest in Sancho, and he also explained what he thinks has gone wrong for the 23-year-old, with the journalist stating that he thinks Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag has handled the situation with the player badly.
"It is easy to look at Jadon Sancho and wonder what might have been, isn't it? I know that Liverpool, for example, had a good long look at him when he was ripping it up at Borussia Dortmund, but opted to go down a different route when recalibrating their attack, choosing less heralded (and cheaper) players such as Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, both of whom have turned out to be successes," Jones wrote.
"I, like many others I'm sure, expected Sancho to be a huge hit at Manchester United, and so it is a big surprise to see where he has ended up. It is hard to see a way back for him at Old Trafford, unless of course Erik ten Hag leaves.
"I think the mistake Ten Hag has made, both in terms of his relationship with the player and from the club's perspective, is in going public with his dissatisfaction. Once he did that, he a) risked what happened with Sancho responding to his criticism and making the story bigger and b) damaged United's chances of selling the player.
"United are getting absolutely nothing out of Sancho at the moment, and given the money they invested in him and the talent he has, that is a serious problem, even before we think about the PR side of things. Were they to try and offload him in January, they'd be getting nowhere near the money they paid.
"Ten Hag, of course, might argue that his public criticism was an attempt to get the player's attention and focus, a last resort, if you like, but given Sancho's reaction it feels like that was a misguided move. The player clearly doesn't agree with his assessment, or his approach, and there are no winners emerging from this situation. Sancho is sidelined, Ten Hag is without a potentially key player and United are watching the value of an asset diminish with each passing week."
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