Kieron Dyer recalls spotted a ‘red flag’ to do with Jadon Sancho during his youth career at Man City.
Sancho joined City’s academy from Watford as a talented youngster, but didn’t want to wait around for first-team opportunities under Pep Guardiola when he chose to move to Borussia Dortmund to establish his career.
The England international emerged as one of Europe’s most exciting young players at Dortmund before his mega-money move to Manchester United.
However, Sancho did not hit the ground running at Old Trafford and he’s endured a torrid few months after falling out with Erik ten Hag and being banished from all first team activities.
Sancho quickly secured a loan move back to Dortmund this month in a bit to rejuvenate his career between now and the end of the season.
Former Premier League player turned coach, Kieran Dyer, recalls an incident with City’s U18s. He told talkSPORT: “He was a wonderkid growing up. He was the talk of everybody in the academies at that time.
“I was coaching and when I watched Man City he was unstoppable. It was a youth team, so the under-18s and he was incredible.
“He was probably 17 years old and everyone wanted him – he could have his pick, he’d just dominate every team.
“They played Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup final and played against Reece James and Reece James got the better of him, which can happen to anyone, but he quit on his team in the Youth Cup final.
“He just mentally went and I kind of had a red flag against him then and thought that’s a bit weird.
“He’s got the world at his feet and alright, he’s had a bad game but he’s quit on his teammates.
“You could see the life had gone out of him, he’d stopped tracking back and sort of given up and was basically mentally gone.”
It has been clear over the past year – or longer – that Sancho hasn’t been committed to putting his football first. Antony is hardly pulling up trees and he could have got back into the team with a bit of hard work.
Speaking about his return to Dortmund on loan, Dyer added: “You’ve seen the problems since at Manchester United and I sort of sensed that as a 17 or 18 year old kid and it’s sad because he’s got some talent and some ability.
“I think it’s a good move because if he does do well in Germany then there’s a good chance that when he comes back to Manchester there’s going to be a new manager, which could definitely happen the way that Erik ten Hag and Man United are going.
“It could work out well for him.”
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