Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has suggested that Gareth Southgate made a mistake with his England squad selection for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, with Jack Grealish getting another call up ahead of Jadon Sancho.
It has been a good start to the season for Jadon Sancho, who struggled in his first campaign as a Manchester United player, which saw him lose his place in the England squad.
But for anyone watching Sancho since the 2022/23 season began, it would be hard not to see a vastly improved player, now operating in a system that I think may help get the best out of him.
However, Southgate doesn’t see it that way. The England manager hardly used Sancho at Euro 2020 and has overlooked him again for his latest squad — with the key difference being he is now a player in top form.
Former United midfielder Paul Scholes believes Sancho deserved an England call-up more than Manchester City ace Jack Grealish.
“Gareth’s picked his players for a reason, possibly from previous squads,” Scholes told BT Sport, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “I think he deserves to be in over Jack Grealish at the minute.
“He scored a good goal against Liverpool and showed signs tonight. He’s better when he’s coming inside and linking play.”
Grealish is another player who has struggled to settle at his new club in Manchester.
The former Aston Villa midfielder joined City and has had an immense amount of pressure on him to perform after costing Pep Guardiola’s side £100 million. It would be fair to say he hasn’t lived up to his lofty price tag thus far.
There was a clear decline in the England international’s output in his first season at City in contrast to the numbers he showed at Villa in previous campaigns.
Yet Southgate continues to give Grealish the nod over players reaching form.
The mind boggles.
