Jadon Sancho Hopes to Entice Other Young English Stars to Bundesliga With Success of Dortmund Move
Borussia Dortmund starlet Jadon Sancho has admitted that he encourages other young English players to follow in his footsteps and find success in the Bundesliga.
Sancho has enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence as one of the finest young talents in European football since completing a move from Manchester City to the German top flight in 2017.
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Still only 18, the winger has scored seven goals in 29 appearances for Dortmund since completing his bold move to the Signal Iduna Park. Answering a question for German television, via Daily Mail, Sancho said in response: “I’m not a star! I’m just getting started!
“Going abroad wasn’t really a thing, as from young I’ve always been away from home, so I was comfortable [after moving to Dortmund].
“So I thought, ‘Why not Germany?’ I did go, and look what’s happened now!”
Sancho moved to Dortmund in search of greater first team involvement than he had received under Pep Guardiola at previous club Manchester City, having struggled to make the breakthrough into the senior setup at the Etihad Stadium.
The young winger made just three appearances for Dortmund’s youth side after joining the German side before advancing swiftly into the first team, and Sancho’s career has been rapidly on the rise since.
The forward’s form in Germany even earned him a call up to Gareth Southgate’s England setup and has now earned three senior caps for his country.
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The likes of Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson and Ademola Lookman of Everton have also enjoyed strong career progression during loan spells in Germany, and Sancho admitted that he may look to encourage the likes of Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi to make similar moves.
Responding to a question on whether he could tempt the Chelsea starlet to Dortmund, Sancho responded: “I’m not sure! I could try to speak to him! Everyone has different pathways. Me and Callum are close friends. I know what he’s all about.
“He’s the next one I would say. He’s very good and talented, fast, good dribbling skills. And I’ve told him the Bundesliga is a nice league. I just told him to do whatever is best for him.”
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Speaking on his advice to other young English stars looking to make similar progress, Sancho added: “I’ve told them that this is a league that is keen to express the youth.
“Every young player in England wants to do well and just wants to help their families, be someone that their family can be remembered for.
“The World Cup showed everyone in England that young players are coming through and working hard to try to get a chance. My chance was to come out to Germany.
“Coming to Germany is not easy. People might think it’s easy because I’m doing so well, but it’s not at all.
“You have to have a strong mentality and just focus and sacrifice a lot of things like family and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
With Reiss Nelson currently on loan at Hoffenheim from Arsenal, Callum Hudson-Odoi could be set to become the next young English forward to follow in Sancho’s footsteps in moving to the Bundesliga, though reports suggest that the Chelsea forward will join Bayern Munich.
