Long time former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed Wednesday night that he tried to bring Jadon Sancho to north London while the young Englishman was still with Manchester City. The Borussia Dortmund winger left City for Dortmund in August of 2017, on a transfer fee reported to be about £8 million.
Sancho was struggling to get major minutes with the Citizens, and Wenger hoped then that the chance to come home would be appealing have enough appeal to get the deal done. Sancho has been sensational at BVB, leapfrogging Christian Pulisic in the pecking order for the side leading the Bundesliga.
“I wanted to take him from Man City when he didn’t get the games,” Wenger revealed while doing television punditry work on beIN Sports ahead of BVB’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the first round of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
“I tried to lure him because he’s from London. I tried to get him to Arsenal. He’s one of the best players of his generation. He can dribble, he has the arrogance.
“There’s something in there that is part of the big players. You can call it arrogance, confidence, belief; but it has to be there.”
Wenger is absolutely right when he says the best players have that swagger, the exceedingly high levels of self-esteem. It’s a total prerequisite in order to reach that rarified air. Up next for Jadon Sancho and Dortmund is a visit to Nurnberg in Bundesliga action on Monday night.
Dortmund currently lead the German top flight by five points.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.