Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland are the toast of the footballing world right now, and Man Utd must be having the biggest regret.
That’s not just because both Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland were close to signing for Man Utd at one point.
It’s because this current World Cup is being dictated by four prodigies who followed a similar path, and yet, United ended up taking the punt on the failed project.
Here’s the story of how United had a 75% chance of success, and they ended up failing with the other 25%.
Where did it all go wrong for Jadon Sancho? Is he the biggest Man Utd flop of ALL TIME?
It's finally official – Jadon Sancho is gone
Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Dembele, and Jadon Sancho
Today, Jude Bellingham is a global superstar powering England’s dream run into the semi-finals (so far).
Erling Haaland seems like a lock to be a perennial Ballon d’Or candidate and is scoring goals for fun at the biggest stages.
Ousmane Dembele is already a Ballon d’Or winner and has just gone back-to-back in the Champions League.
Jadon Sancho? Released by Man Utd after a disastrous spell, and yet to sign somewhere else, with a third “homecoming” to Dortmund mooted.
At one point or another in their careers, even at similar times in the case of Haaland, Bellingham, and Sancho, they were all at Dortmund.
The Germans prided themselves on providing the platform for the best young talent in football, and in Haaland, Bellingham, and Dembele, three out of the four prodigies fulfilled their potential.
It sums up Man Utd’s luck and talent ID in the market that they ended up buying the one player who didn’t just fail to fulfill his potential, but outright imploded in remarkable fashion.
Man Utd need to share some blame for Sancho’s career
What separates Sancho from the other three players is that he lacked work ethic and professionalism, but the environment matters equally as much.
Where does Jadon Sancho rank amongst Man Utd’s WORST-EVER signings?
Would you put him above Antony? Alexis Sanchez? What went wrong for him?
Haaland and Bellingham are driven professionals who would have thrived at any club, but Sancho’s case needs to be compared to Dembele to show how much the club environment matters.
Dembele, like Sancho, joined a chaotic Barcelona side from Dortmund and suffered from injuries and a lack of help to keep him in line.
Barcelona eventually sold him to PSG for 1/4th of the value they bought him for, and it wasn’t until Luis Enrique arrived and changed the PSG culture that he truly started to fly.
Similarly, Sancho joined a Man Utd side that was perennially in transition, looking for a scapegoat each matchday, with the dressing room standards down in the dumps.
With nobody to keep him in line, Sancho lost his way, and by the time the dressing room situation improved at Carrington, Sancho was far beyond saving.
United did buy a flawed prodigy, but they need to share blame for that flawed prodigy becoming a failed player.
The pain will only increase upon seeing what the other three have gone on to achieve in their careers.
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