Former England star Kieron Dyer has recalled witnessing a troubling “red flag” with Jadon Sancho during his time at Manchester City.
Sancho, now 24, was climbing the ranks at City as a youngster before Borussia Dortmund snapped him up in 2017, where he began to showcase his talents on a global stage. Dyer highlighted an issue with Sancho’s attitude that has plagued him for years, which he believes contributed to Pep Guardiola’s decision to let him go for just £8 million despite his potential.
Sancho is now preparing for a Champions League final at Wembley as Dortmund faces Real Madrid. His stellar performance against Paris Saint-Germain helped his team reach the final. However, his journey has not been smooth, including a challenging spell at Manchester United before being loaned back to Dortmund in January 2024.
In an interview with talkSPORT, former England and Newcastle United midfielder Dyer recounted watching Sancho play for City’s youth team. “He was a wonderkid growing up. He was the talk of everybody in the academies at that time. I was coaching and when I watched Man City, he was unstoppable. It was the youth team, so the under-18s, and he was incredible,” Dyer said.
“He was probably 17 years old and everyone wanted him – he could have his pick, he’d just dominate every team. They played Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup final and played against Reece James, and Reece James got the better of him, which can happen to anyone, but he quit on his team in the Youth Cup final.”
Dyer continued, “He just mentally went and I kind of had a red flag against him then and thought that’s a bit weird. He’s got the world at his feet and alright, he’s had a bad game but he’s quit on his teammates. You could see the life had gone out of him, he’d stopped tracking back and sort of given up and was basically mentally gone.”
Since his return to German football, Sancho has managed three goals and three assists in 20 appearances for Dortmund across all competitions.
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