United hoped the £74m winger would be a transformative signing, but his spell at Old Trafford has been a dismal affair for everyone involved

So farewell Jadon Sancho, we hardly knew ya. Just two-and-a-half years after United forked out £74 million ($94m) to sign the winger, he is on his way out, heading back to Borussia Dortmund on loan after the most disappointing spell imaginable at Old Trafford.

United spent years courting Sancho while he was ripping it up in the Bundesliga, and he was expected to be a transformative signing who could make the Red Devils genuine Premier League title contenders and a force to be reckoned with in Europe once again.

Instead, United have witnessed one of the steepest declines in performance in recent memory and seen Sancho fall out with Erik ten Hag, ultimately siding with the manager and leaving one of their highest-paid players to train on his own.

Sancho's miserable stay with United is a sad tale of wasted talent and missed opportunity. And everyone comes out of it looking bad…

Getty ImagesLengthy and expensive pursuit

Looking back on Sancho's ill-fated time with United, it is tempting to conclude it was doomed from the start. The Red Devils first declared their interest in signing him in 2019 after Sancho had scored 14 goals and set up a further 20 in his first full season in Dortmund's first team. They balked at Dortmund's asking price, though, and instead signed Daniel James from Swansea for £15m ($19m).

But while James struggled for consistency in his first season at Old Trafford, Sancho got better and better, delivering 19 goals and 19 assists in 2020-21. United stepped up their pursuit in the summer of 2020, holding talks with Sancho, although they refused to meet Dortmund's asking price of over £100m ($127m) as funds were still tight amid the coronavirus pandemic. One year later, however, they agreed a fee of £74m and welcomed Sancho in July 2021 with a stylish presentation video.

Then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who had petitioned for his signing for two years, said Sancho was a forward made for United given their rich history of wingers. But what came next completely undid all the hard work they had done in bringing Sancho to the club.

AdvertisementGettyNo longer the priority

Sancho's transfer was followed by the signing of Raphael Varane, setting United up nicely to build on their second-placed finish from the previous campaign. But both new arrivals were totally upstaged when United announced they had re-signed Cristiano Ronaldo, 12 years after he had left the club for Real Madrid as a Ballon d'Or winner.

Ronaldo's return was a commercial bonanza for United, but completely upset the balance of the team, and Sancho was one of the main casualties. First of all, the England international had been denied the No.7 shirt he had been promised a year earlier when first speaking to United. He had worn the No.7 at Dortmund and was excited to follow in the footsteps of past United 'Magnificent Sevens' such as George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Ronaldo himself.

However, by the time Sancho arrived, the No.7 shirt was occupied by Edinson Cavani, and the ex-Manchester City trainee instead had to make do with the No.25. To add insult to injury, just weeks later when Ronaldo came through the door, suddenly Cavani was willing to give up his squad number for the man dubbed 'CR7'.

It might sound trivial for a player to complain about the number he wears, but the whole affair was a sign that Ronaldo was the priority, not Sancho. And the same was true on the pitch.

GettySimmering tensions with Ronaldo

Despite United spending so long pursuing Sancho and making him their fourth-most expensive signing of all time, the winger quickly became an afterthought as Solskjaer was forced to rejig his whole team to fit Ronaldo in.

The Norwegian gave Sancho just four Premier League starts before he was sacked in November 2021, and the forward only got his first goal for United under caretaker manager Michael Carrick against Villarreal, before striking again a few days later at Chelsea.

Sancho improved under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, but his revival came amid a general downturn in results for United and Ronaldo, who failed to score for six games running. And according to , Ronaldo tried to get the manager to change the team's tactics and play another striker alongside him at the expense of Sancho. Rangnick reportedly rejected Ronaldo's suggestion, although he did drop Sancho to the bench for the 0-0 draw against Watford. Sancho ended his first campaign with just four goals and three assists in all competitions.

GettyReborn without Ronaldo's shadow

While Ronaldo pushed for a move away from United over the summer of 2022 and started the next season on the bench, Sancho took centre-stage and made a flying start to the new campaign, suddenly resembling the player he was at Dortmund.

He scored a brilliant goal in the 2-1 win over Liverpool and then struck another decisive goal against Leicester City, while also netting against Sheriff in the Europa League.

"He understands now he has to invest in the physical and that is what he did. Now he can get the reward and that is what he has to bring. I'm sure it's the start for him," said a delighted Ten Hag. "With his potential, there's much more room for improvement, he can be even more important and contribute with his creativity and scoring goals and assists."