'A weak little boy': Pundits and fans round on ex-Man United and Man City winger for Chelsea performances

Sancho had not particularly endeared himself to Manchester United fans during his time at Old Trafford, with a bright start there petering out into ineffectual - and infrequent - displays.

Having started his career at Manchester City, Sancho made a name for himself at Borussia Dortmund, to such an extent that United shelled out £73m for him in 2021. But after falling out of favour at United - and being dropped by Erik ten Hag for “his performances in training” in September 2023, he found himself back on loan at Dortmund at the end of last season.

United were desperate to shift him over the summer, and found Chelsea a willing taker. Sancho is at Stamford Bridge on loan for this season with an obligation to buy in the summer, which is worth £20m and an extra £5m if - as is likely - Chelsea finish in the top 14.

But Sancho burned any remaining bridges at United by commenting “Freedom” under a social media post made by Marcus Rashford when he himself joined Aston Villa on loan. And in the light of that, his performance last night against Brighton has drawn derision.

Several people online have pointed out that in his 70 minutes - coming on after Noni Madueke was injured - his stats read:

• 6 ground duels avoided
• 4 tackles ducked
• 30 little touches
• 0 Shots
• 0 Chances Created
• 0 Goal
• 0 Assist

Several pictures are doing the rounds with Sancho in a line-up of genuine freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela.

And now former United defender Paul Parker has hit out at Sancho, claiming Chelsea “must regret having to buy him” this summer.

Speaking to Football365, Parker said: “Jadon Sancho reminds me of a weak little boy who is using someone else to air his grievances. I hope Rashford is smart enough to stay out of it. Even his PR team should know better than to let him get involved in this nonsense. Sancho is trying to shift focus away from himself, but in reality, he should be looking in the mirror.

“It was the wrong timing. Is he still trying to align himself with Rashford? Because Rashford would be foolish to go down that path. Sancho has been ridiculed by Chelsea fans. He should be focused on improving his game instead of alienating himself further. Chelsea must be regretting the fact that they have to buy him. They’ll probably be begging United to find a way out of the deal.”

And other pundits are equally unimpressed. On Sky Sports Jamie Carragher said: “Just see Sancho with Minteh, the one-two and just watch Sancho... I mean, where's he going?! And he goes inside Cucurella, awful defending from the left-back again. Minteh has the potential to be a real star, but the intensity on that side from Cucurella and Sancho was awful.”

Sancho has one assist in his last 12 games for Chelsea. He’s played 19 times in the league in all and scored twice.