Micah Richards says Enzo Maresca has given Jadon Sancho the licence to maximise his game at Chelsea, believing he was curtailed from using his best assets at Manchester United.
Sancho has two goals in as many Chelsea games, having scored his maiden Blues goal against Southampton last week before sparking the comeback in Sunday’s 4-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur with a superb strike after beating his man.
He has also registered five assists in his 10 Chelsea outings. Sancho is on a season-long loan from United but his deal contains an obligation-to-buy clause worth £25million, which will be triggered next summer.
The player has spoken about being made to feel welcome at Stamford Bridge since his arrival on transfer deadline day, with Chelsea now sitting some 12 points ahead of United in the Premier League table.
Richards believes Sancho was not given enough support in matches during his time at United, which included a spell away from the squad over the 2022/23 festive season and a fall-out with then-manager Erik ten Hag last term.
Sancho is set to leave Old Trafford having recorded just 12 goals and six assists in 83 games after arriving in 2021 on a £73m deal from Borussia Dortmund, the club which he was loaned to for the second half of last season amid his feud with Ten Hag.
Richards has been impressed with Sancho’s recent form and has credited Maresca for his usage of the 24-year-old. “It just shows you that confidence, a system, a manager who believes in what you do… [and has] said 'go out there and show us what you can do' - and he’s proven that,” Richards said on the Rest is Football podcast.
“He’s always been a good player. The only thing I found with Sancho at times when he was at Man United, he wasn’t really taking anyone on. He always had really good feet, he can move the ball side to side really well, he’s good at those link-ups.
“At Man United, they just left him out on the wing to go and dribble past someone. Where if you watched him at Dortmund before that, it was more his link-up play and football intelligence that made him so good.
“His technique… He looks like he’s got that under Maresca at Chelsea, it’s good to see.”