Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy has commented on Chelsea star Jadon Sancho and given reasons why he struggled at Old Trafford.
Sancho left Man Utd in the summer as he joined Premier League rivals Chelsea on loan. He is set to make his move permanent next year for between £20-25m.
The England international signed for Man Utd from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund during the 2021 summer transfer window for around £73m.
The 24-year-old failed to live up to expectations at Old Trafford and had a major fallout with Erik ten Hag at the start of last season. He accused the Dutchman of making him a scapegoat and refused to apologise.
After ending last season on loan at Borussia Dortmund, Sancho featured heavily for Man Utd during pre-season. Despite this, he was not involved in United’s opening couple of Premier League games and joined Chelsea on deadline day.
McCarthy thinks Sancho struggled at Man Utd because there was a “lack of communication and understanding”.
“Just a bit of communication problems, really, because Sanch is a very quiet guy,” McCarthy said.
“No one knows literally nothing about Jadon. Jadon comes in, he does his job, he does his work, and then it’s just like, very quiet.
“[He’s] a great boy, great character, fantastic footballer, unbelievable the things that he can do. For me, it was a real shame that it didn’t work out for Jadon at United, because I thought he was the type of player that would flourish in a United shirt.
“But unfortunately, I think lack of communication and understanding, I think that was part of the downside that didn’t end up working with Sanch.”
McCarthy also claims Sancho often “snuck out to London” while at Man Utd, but the Chelsea newbie is now “closer to home”.
“He’s closer to home because he did sneak out to come to London quite a lot,” McCarthy added.
“The London culture is quite strong, so I think Jadon maybe wanted more of that. So that’s why he kept on. He was in London quite a lot.
“Now he is closer to home, so hopefully he can find that peace, he can find that bit of magic that he found when he went to Dortmund, and he gets the love that he deserves from the coaching staff, the players.
“I think he will turn out to be a special player again. Because I think every single one that knows Sancho that would want him to be at that level, because it’s good for world football.”
