Jadon Sancho isn’t showing enough for Aston Villa to make his move permanent.
The Manchester United loanee is out-of-contract next summer and reports suggest he is likely to be released for free by Ruben Amorim’s club.
The former England international is struggling to make his mark - and he’s still got plenty to do to convince everyone he is worth taking on.
Jadon Sancho Needs to do More at Aston Villa
Jadon Sancho Aston Villa
Former Villa striker Garry Thompson, who has seen all of Villa’s Premier League games this season working as a pundit, says Sancho needs to do more.
“He’s not lost,” said the ex-Holte End hero, “but he’s not found a home either at Villa.
“Three or four years ago he was looking a force and, at the moment, Borussia Dortmund seems to be the only club where he really fits.
“I look at him now - he shows little tricks every now and again - and he’s got a bit of directness about him.
“But does he try to take people on? There’s no real end product yet.
“People are saying that you can’t judge him yet because he’s not properly fit, but at the moment Jadon isn’t showing an awful lot.”
Sancho has been used sparingly by Villa boss Unai Emery.
So far, he has started just two games and been used as a substitute three times in the Premier League.
Famously, he was put on and then dragged off within 45 minutes during a game against Manchester City following an injury to Emi Buendia.
A few days earlier, Sancho had played in a Europa League fixture against Go Ahead Eagles and lasted more than an hour.
And Thompson is questioning if Sancho not only has the desire but also if he is in the condition to make a difference to Emery.
He said: “When he arrived, the deal was that we were waiting for him to get his sharpness back in training.
“I’m just looking at him at the moment. He doesn’t look as if he can compete - he doesn’t look athletic enough to do the job.
“No-one is doubting his touch. He’s got good ability.
“He’ll step over the ball two or three times and do a couple of dragbacks with it.
“But how I always judge players in those forward areas as to what I, as an old-school centre-forward, was going to get from him.
“What does he offer to any forward player?
“If I’m a striker, I’m saying to the likes of Jadon: ‘Get the ball to me in areas where I can try to score or attack the ball.’
“If you don’t cross the ball into those areas, what are you giving your strikers and what are you offering the team?
“He plays very safe, to me.
“I think that people said Borussia Dortmund suited him down to the ground - at the moment, I can see that.
“The Premier League is so quick and so athletic and, at the moment, I’m not seeing that he can cope with it.
“Yes, he’s good with the ball at his feet.
“But he’s not really going anywhere with it at the moment.”
Thompson believes that he has the perfect chance to build up his sharpness during this international break ahead of a traditionally-congested schedule over the holiday period.
And what did he make of Emery’s treatment of Sancho when he was sent on as a substitute when Buendia picked up a knock against Manchester City, only to be withdrawn 45 minutes later.
He said: “Emery handled that well because, after Sancho played at Go Ahead Eagles, he said that he was only going to play 20 minutes against Manchester City.
“Buendia’s injury meant those plans had been scuppered - and what Emery said about the situation afterwards made sense to me.
“Over the next four weeks, he should get more game-time and get himself fit.
“It’s been the same with Harvey Elliott.
“He needs minutes on the pitch to prove his fitness, too.
“I want Sancho to succeed. Every Villa fan does.
“But if you are asking me my opinion right here and now as to whether the club should take him on a free, I’ve seen nothing.
“Honestly, I’ve seen nothing to entice me into thinking: ‘Yeah, I’ll take him on a free.”