Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho showed some promising signs on his Aston Villa debut
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Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho and Ian Maatsen(Image: Jed Leicester/Shutterstock)View Image
Aston Villa’s Jadon Sancho needs a new lease of life - and perhaps a familiar face could help provide that.
The winger made his Villa debut on Tuesday night against Brentford and came within inches of extending the lead in the second half.
Harvey Elliott opened his account for the club just before half-time, before Sancho struck the woodwork from an angle - though he arguably should have done better.
Creating two chances during the match, Sancho showed promising signs on his debut under Unai Emery, playing off the left.
Former Borussia Dortmund teammate Ian Maatsen could prove key to Sancho’s performances at Villa. The winger thrives with energetic support around him - players who can drag markers away and create pockets of space for him to operate in.
One of Sancho’s best qualities is his ability to link up with teammates, so it shouldn’t take him long to build relationships with the likes of Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.
But Maatsen is a player Sancho already knows well, and that familiarity was evident at the Gtech Community Stadium. Some of Maatsen’s best attributes - especially going forward - are his pace and ability to combine in the final third.
Together, Sancho and Maatsen could offer Emery a brand-new dynamic that gets the best out of both players.
Since joining from Chelsea in the summer of 2024, Maatsen has struggled to lock down a regular starting spot at Villa. The defensive side of his game still needs work, but if Villa want to get the best out of Sancho, Maatsen might be their best route to unlocking him.
Emery’s alternative at left-back, Lucas Digne, has started 31 of the club’s last 42 league matches and is clearly preferred over the Dutchman at present.
As for Sancho, he can operate on either the left or right wing, but it's well documented that the 25-year-old prefers to operate off the left side.
Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told The Athletic in 2023: "Jadon was put up as the No 1 target for the right wing by the scouts, and when you look at his talent, I could see why. He’s immensely talented and we haven’t seen the best of him. I hope we do, but he prefers to play left wing."
Even though he prefers playing on the left - a preference Emery honored on his debut - Sancho recorded three goal involvements from each wing during his loan spell at Dortmund in the second half of the 2023/24 season.
At Chelsea last season, he scored four goals and provided five assists from the left wing across 29 appearances. From the right, he scored once and registered five assists in just eight matches.
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