Bundesliga is back: Dortmund star Sancho looking to build on teenage kicks

The Bundesliga's return this weekend means fans will be able to enjoy the next chapter of Jadon Sancho's rapid rise.

Football's hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped the England winger being linked with big-money moves to the Premier League, but his immediate focus will be Borussia Dortmund's bid to unseat long-reigning champions Bayern Munich.

In terms of his output, particularly when it comes to goals and assists, he is rivalling Europe's elite players and compares favourably to Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe in 2019-20.

IMPROVING EVERY YEAR

Sancho has averaged a goal or assist every 82 minutes in his Bundesliga career.

His first season in 2017-18 saw him either score or create a goal every 137 minutes, but that rate improved spectacularly to 95 minutes in 2018-19.

This term, Sancho has racked up a sublime tally of 14 goals and 15 assists, and has scored or set up one of his team-mates every 62 minutes he spends on the pitch.

Sancho's tally of 15 assists in 23 league matches this season is already higher than the 14 he managed when playing all 34 top-flight games in the previous campaign.

The same can be said for his goal tally of 14, given he managed 12 in the entirety of 2018-19.

That improvement can also be seen in his shot conversion rate, which was 10 per cent in his first season before improving to 30 and 31 per cent respectively.

In an ideal combination, his accuracy is going in the right direction at a time where he is taking more attempts, with Sancho having attempted 45 shots this season in 1,806 minutes, compared to 40 in 2,459 a season ago.


RIVALING EUROPE'S ELITE

Only two players in Europe's top-five leagues have a better record than Sancho when it comes to goals and assists this season.

Ciro Immobile has produced 34 (27 goals and seven assists), with Lionel Messi on 31 (19 goals and 12 assists), just ahead of Sancho's 29.

Timo Werner, Robert Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, Ronaldo and Mbappe have all enjoyed fine campaigns but they rank behind Sancho.

Stretching the timeframe back to the start of last season, when Sancho became a first-team regular, he again sits near the top of the charts.

The England international has 55 goal involvements over that timespan, with 26 goals and 29 assists.

Barcelona's Messi is out on his own at the top with 80 (55 goals and 25 assists), with Mbappe (63) and Lewandowski (57) the only other players above Sancho.

That means the 20-year-old is above the likes of Ronaldo (53) and Mohamed Salah (52) over an extended period.