According to Goal.com, Borussia Dortmund is under pressure to strengthen its squad before the transfer window closes due to a serious injury to Karim Covarrubias, and Jadon Sancho is one of the names being mentioned.

The English winger, who previously played for Borussia Dortmund, is currently a free agent and therefore could join without a transfer fee, while also being familiar with the club. However, that's precisely where the problem lies.

Club general manager Carsten Kramer stated in Sunday's "Sky90" program that few names generate as much concern among Borussia Dortmund fans as Jadon Sancho. Based on social media reactions, this is indeed the case. But from a purely sporting perspective, it's hard to explain why Jadon Sancho, now 26 years old, should still inspire such high expectations. Therefore, Dortmund particularly should not bring him back now—not because of his past, but because of his present performance.

Since his €85 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United in 2021, Jadon Sancho has been chasing the form he enjoyed at Dortmund. This also explains why the player, who has won 23 caps for England, is now a free agent, with seemingly no interest from clubs with ambitions comparable to Dortmund's.

Statistics from the last five years already tell the story. During this period, Jadon Sancho played 184 official matches, scoring 21 goals and providing 22 assists. His average playing time was less than one hour per game, and he was directly involved in a goal roughly every 250 minutes.

This is not a snapshot but a trend that has persisted for years. Jadon Sancho certainly inspired Borussia Dortmund from 2017 to 2021, but that version of him no longer exists.

Even his six-month loan spell at Dortmund in winter 2024 is insufficient to change this assessment. At that time, Jadon Sancho's problem remained a lack of consistency, though he occasionally showed flashes of brilliance in the Champions League and Bundesliga. Those good performances stood out precisely because they were exceptional, not because they represented the norm for Jadon Sancho.

A reliable squad strategy cannot be built on a handful of outstanding performances. Yet this is exactly the problem Borussia Dortmund faces now. Following Covarrubias's injury, Dortmund needs speed, dynamism, and squad depth, as well as a player who can consistently deliver these qualities. The club initially expected this from its new Greek signing, and his start has indeed been impressive.

However, Jadon Sancho has not delivered this recently at Manchester United or Borussia Dortmund, nor did he during his subsequent loan spells at Chelsea and Aston Villa. Signing a player who has been chasing his best form for years is not a sensible response to Covarrubias's injury; it's a gamble on a distant past.

More importantly, bringing back Jadon Sancho would directly contradict the recent "new Dortmund" approach of breaking free from stagnation. Under sporting director Ole Buk, the club actively parted ways with players like Niklas Süle and Julian Brandt due to their prolonged inconsistency. Now, bringing back Jadon Sancho, who shares the same problem, is no different from those romanticized nostalgia signings of the past, such as the returns of Mario Götze, Shinji Kagawa, or Nuri Şahin, which often ended in disappointment.

The argument that "Jadon Sancho can still change games thanks to his world-class potential" is equally insufficient. Yes, when Jadon Sancho is in form, he can still decide matches today. But the key question is not whether a player theoretically possesses outstanding talent, but how consistently he can demonstrate it.

The desire of some Dortmund fans to see Jadon Sancho is certainly understandable, but this expectation is irrational because it is not based on his current sporting level. When Dortmund seeks a replacement for Covarrubias, they should not be swayed by a name simply because of its storied history with the club. If Dortmund signs free agent Jadon Sancho, the greatest cost would be abandoning their original squad-building strategy.

Переведено ИИ.

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