PFDB report: Sancho, impossible not to fall in love with him

You don't tend to trust an Englishman's talent entirely until he shows it in another league. It's an unwritten rule of football. And the first thing to be said about Jadon Malik Sancho (Camberwell, 2000) is that he refused the warmth of home and patience for his hunger for success. This winger burst that English bubble with dribbling and a devilish verticality in the Bundesliga. If Sterling was saved by Guardiola, Sancho has been rescued by BVB.

More than rescued, confirmed. He's gone from promise to potential star in Germany. A year of blanks, one and three-quarter seasons devastating with double digits, for a total of 30 goals and 34 assists in 63 games (making the count easy), as ProFootballDB says. As capable of assuming the leading role in the team as choosing his more supportive side; because he has a good capacity for choice. Although it suits him better to be a star than the reference.

His qualities are those of any footballer who you are glued to at first sight. Speed, overflow, change of pace, verticality. The kind you'd see playing while listening to rap. And with good taste: from a young age, he sculpted his dream of being a footballer by seeing videos of Ronaldinho. A statement of intent for those who want to elevate the game to a show. And although of Trinidadian origin and raised in London, his real race is that of a street dribbler (he is the fourth player with the most completed dribbles in the Bundesliga (2.94)).

Jadon Sancho is winger, almost glued to the touchline. He was always more comfortable on the right, but at Borussia, he has learned to operate on the other side as well. And he hides an imposing forward soul that sometimes bursts in without him even being able to control it.

He's one of those players who wins games, no doubt, which is why United are willing to break the bank for him (also to give a hard moral punch to their neighbours, who lost him for less than ten million). If Sancho chose BVB he knew it would be the springboard he needed. Now, as the Bundesliga's third top scorer and players with the most assists (15, tied with Muller), the time has come for the big leap.

His best football is in 2 legged matches or on the counter-attack, although his good short game takes away his reputation of being a wake-up call or a footballer who can only do harm with space. In fact, he's the third top player with the most key passes in Germany, with 2.64 for every 90 minutes of play.