Aston Villa are seeing their season collapse before their eyes after they fell to a shock 2-0 defeat to Wolves at Molineux on Friday night.
Ollie Watkins missed a big chance in the first-half as the teams went in level at half-time, but second-half goals from Joao Gomes and Ricardo Gomes sealed all three points for the home side, leaving Unai Emery's side on the verge of a battle for a Champions League spot rather than challenging for the Premier League title.
But while there were a host of bad performers, one start stood out more than others for the wrong reasons, and the manager must now brutally axe him from the squad if he wants to get back on track.
Jadon Sancho Drops Stinker vs Wolves
Unai Emery and Jadon Sancho during Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City
Sancho was handed a start on the right-hand side of the attack alongside Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia at Molineux, but he struggled to make any kind of impact on the game.
According to Sofascore, the 25-year-old completed 0% of his cross attempts, completed just one of his three dribble attempts, lost possession seven times, had zero shot attempts, and also made zero defensive contributions, leading to him being substituted on 60 minutes and earning a 4/10 rating from John Townley.
It means that the Manchester United loanee, who becomes a free agent this summer, remains on just one goal and one assist all season, and it raises big question marks over his future at Villa Park.
It's understood that there was no buy option in the loan deal for Sancho to leave Old Trafford last summer, but Emery has recently spoken publicly about bringing the former England international in permanently.
However, his recent performances should surely have the Spaniard thinking twice, because it's evident that Sancho isn't the talent that he once was, and they would be much better off getting rid of him and bringing someone new in.
Agbonlahor Has Had Enough Too
Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho warms up.
UEFA Europa League - Aston Villa v BSC Young Boys - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - November 27, 2025 Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Chris Radburn
While Sancho has earned criticism from fans and pundits, club legend Gabriel Agbonlahor has also chipped in, claiming that he is incapable of beating an opposition defender and labelling his performance as 'very poor' in a now-deleted post on X.
It says a lot that fans and ex-players are all chipping in, and it's clear now that they have had enough of his underperforming despite his astronomical wages.
Emery now has a big decision to make, but his usual trick of getting the best out of players hasn't worked with Sancho, and it's time to call time on his Aston Villa career, and instead focus on other players to ensure they get Champions League football next season.
unai emery Related
Aston Villa Eyeing Move to Sign £300,000-a-Week Man Utd Star in Summer
He could be on the move this summer.