*THREAD*

The rumour of Jadon Sancho going to Manchester United is not going anywhere, and seems to be picking up steam in most media. But would the young Englishman really improve what is a promising attacking side. And how would he do that? Let's have a look!

NOTE: As always, we will be judging this based on domestic leagues and cups, as well as European leagues (ie; Carabao Cup not counting). For the sake of Bruno Fernandes, we will count the Portuguese league and cup in some parts of the thread.

Primarily, we must determined which position we believe Sancho would fit in at United. According to
@Transfermarkt , this was the amount of times Sancho played in different positions for BVB in 19/20:

Right winger: 20 times
Left winger: 11 times
Attacking midfielder: 12 times

Sancho played mostly on the right. These played for United on the right this season according to
@Wyscout (some switched positions within games):

Greenwood: 26 times
James: 21 times
Mata: 10 times
Lingard/Pereira: 5 times
Chong: 4 times
Rashford/Gomes/Dalot: 1 time

NOTE: Using WyScout's tracker on where players have played during the course of games (I have not counted wingback systems like 3-4-2-1 here, primarily the 4-2-3-1, which was, according to WyScout, used 73% of the time). I also include players subbed in (if played over 20 min)

Primarily, Sancho had a total of 19 goals and 19 assists across 43 matches (0.88 goal/assist a game)( @Transfermarkt).

Same page has Greenwood with 16 goals and 3 assists over 43 matches (half of Sancho) = 0.44 goal/assist a game.

James? 40 matches, 4 goals and 6 assists = 0.25

NOTE: I have previously written that Greenwood had no assists. He obviously has one against Brighton (Premier League) and Transfermarkt has given him two in the Europa League. UEFA have him at one. I'm going with Transfermarkt's numbers considering they don't change much.

Breaking this down even more so, according to
@Wyscout, Sancho stopped at 3327 minutes this season. Meaning he had a goal/assist every 87 minutes.

Greenwood? 2295 minutes, giving a goal/assist every 120 minutes, while James, with 2875 minutes gets one every 287(!) minutes.

Coming from a wide position, perhaps we oughta look at how the trio fends in terms of dribbling? WyScout has Sancho attempting 6.76 dribbles a game, with 45.6% being successful. Greenwood tries 3.33, with 48.2% coming off.

James, however, tries 5.17 a game, with 57.6% coming off

Sancho is also eager to create shots for himself.
@fbref states that in the Bundesliga (just the league here, ya'll), Sancho has had 52 shots in total, 28 on target, meaning he hits the goal 53.8% of the time. Greenwood (in the EPL): 38 shots, 20 on target (52.6%).

A real interesting statistic, if go even deeper into the shots taken, is that Sancho averages 1.10 shots on target in the Bundesliga over the course of 90 minutes.

Greenwood has 1.36 over the course of 90 minutes in the EPL, while James has 0.75. Fernandes (at United)? 1.06.

One stat that really sticks out is touches in the opposition box, and WyScout score Sancho at 4.73 touches in the box a game. He smashes Greenwood (3.25) and James (3.13), and even beats Martial (4.09) and Rashford (3.85). X-factor in terms of getting into the area with the ball?

Another stat, that FBRef has pointed out (again, ONLY looking at league) is SCA (Shot-Creating Actions), meaning "actions directly leading to a shot, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls". Sancho leads at Dortmund at 124 total.

Rashford (93) and Martial (92) closest at Utd

We also know, from what we looked at earlier, that Sancho has the ability to play a more central role. In a 4-2-3-1, that role would be given to Bruno Fernandes. However, how does Sancho stack up to the Portuguese in terms of some of the more interesting numbers?

Remember how Sancho had a G/A every 87 minutes (19 goals, 19 assists?) The whole season (Portugal/England), according to TransferMarkt, Fernandes stopped with 42 games, 23 goals and 18 assists = 0.97 G/A a game.

WyScout had him at 3928 mins = goal/assist every 73 minutes.

Fernandes' passing accuracy has also been a hot topic. He attempts 52.77 passes a game, with 75.2% coming off. That's less than the 57.48 passes Sancho attempts, and worse than his 85.7% accuracy, according to WyScout. Important to note that this is based on all positions played.

The more exciting one is perhaps "through passes", and Fernandes is pretty awesome in that he attempts 3.51 of those a game, with 19% being successful. Sancho, on the other hand, tries 1.51 a game, with 37.5% coming off. Greenwood has 0.43 a game, with 36.4% coming off. Accuracy.

What about trying to find teammates in the penalty area? WyScout report that Sancho has 4.11 attempted passes into the area a game, with 65.8% being successful. Fernandes? 5.48 attempts, 42.3% successful. In some aspects, they are pretty accurate both of them.

Here's an interesting one: according to Transfermarkt, of the 18 assists Fernandes has had this season, 5 of those were to the right winger:

Sporting Club:

Raphinha: 2
Bolasie: 1

Man United:

Greenwood: 2

A "dream duo" waiting to happen at Old Trafford?

Going back to comparing him with his contenders, Sancho attempts 11.25 passes forward during a game, with 80.8% being successful. Greenwood tries 4.51, with 73% being successful. James? 5.23, with 70.7% being successful, according to WyScout. A world of difference there.

The crossing numbers are perhaps a bit interesting as well. Sancho attempts 1.51 crosses a game, with 37.5% success rate. That's way less attempted than Dan James (3.88), but much better success rate than James, who stops at 26.6%. Greenwood? 0.75 attempted, 26.3% coming off.

How's the longevity of Sancho? He was, of course, criticized for looking unfit post-pandemic. FBRef has him playing 25.4 matches (his number of minutes divided by 90) in the Bundesliga. That's the exact amount Dan James has for Man United, whilst Greenwood had 14.7 in the EPL.

So, how could Man United fit Jadon Sancho in? Primarily, we need to remember that United are going to be playing the Champions League, meaning they need a large squad. With Sancho, as we have seen, wanting the ball, interchanging with Fernandes on right could be key in 4-2-3-1

As I have tried to illustrate, this could create an overload on United's right (as it often has on the left with Shaw being very attacking), which can also free up even more room for the likes of Pogba centrally. That could mean A LOT of fun for the Frenchman.

Another interesting formation would be the 3-4-1-2, where United split the forwards (which I believe they used v Man City). I think Sancho could cause havoc in the spaces between the lines, and fall down, creating a 3-4-2-1 at times as well. Can give a lot of variety. Anyways:

An indication to the numbers between Greenwood and Sancho obviously has to be counted for the amount of times each has started matches this season. This is how it looks according to Transfermarkt:

Sancho: 34

Greenwood: 20

A distinct difference.

Full rundown of Sancho's past two seasons at BVB:

2018/2019 - 43 matches, 13 goals and 19 assists
2019/2020 - 43 matches, 19 goals and 19 assists

Total: 86 matches, 31 goals and and 38 assists = 0.80 G/A every game.

WyScout says he has 6474 mins total = G/A every 93 minutes.

CONCLUSION:

Based on the stats, it seems obvious that we can now address Sancho as a world class attacking player. Some of the stats he showcases are awesome, though at only 20 years of age, it's obvious he can improve. At €100m+ he seems expensive, but a risk worth taking ...?