Glenn Hoddle hails transformation of Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund - 'He got annoyed if it didn’t come'

Glenn Hoddle hailed the transformation of Jadon Sancho after his goal helped Borussia Dortmund beat PSV to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

The England international rejoined the German side in January on loan after a turbulent 18 months at Manchester United.

Sancho moved to Old Trafford in July 2021 for £75 million but fell out of favour with Erik ten Hag at the beginning of this season.

The Dutchman revealed a poor performance in training was the reason he left Sancho out of the squad for last September’s loss to Arsenal but the winger hit back, saying he was being made a “scapegoat” in a now deleted social media post.

That resulted in a stalemate between manager and player, with Sancho frozen out of the squad unless he apologised.

He refused and was given a career lifeline when he sealed a move back to the Bundesliga with the club where he made a name for himself.

The 23-year-old made an immediate impact back in familiar surroundings and scored his first European goal of the campaign as Dortmund secured a 3-1 aggregate win over PSV.

“He’s got his confidence back,” Hoddle said on TNT Sports. “He’s going into places where at United where he just wouldn’t go. He’s going into awkward places where he’s perhaps going to get kicked, perhaps going to get marked heavily.

“Today, he enjoyed his game. He scored at the weekend and it just shows you what confidence does to a footballer. If you’ve got confidence, you’re looking forward to the game, you just want the ball.

“He wanted the ball. In the first half particularly, he wanted the ball so many times. He got annoyed if it didn’t come. That’s when you’re confident. That’s when you’re on top of your game.”

In the aftermath of the victory, Sancho thanked his team-mates for believing in him before giving an update on the hamstring injury that cut short his night.

“I felt something and I just didn’t want to risk it,” Sancho told TNT Sports. “We’re going to check and hopefully it’s nothing.

“It should be okay.”

Owen Hargreaves also heaped praise on Sancho’s latest display, saying he is being deployed in a role that suits him far better.

“I think when United signed him they thought they were going to get somebody who was going to play wide and take people on but he’s actually better playing a little more centrally,” Hargreaves added.

“We saw that again today. Jadon played quite narrow and he’s at his best when he’s got people he can link up with.

“Technically he’s so good and this Dortmund team suits him.”

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