By John O’Leary
The departure of Ousmane Dembele caused plenty of friction among Borussia Dortmund supporters, as their young star was snapped up by Spanish giants Barcelona this summer.
The 20-year-old France international prospect was lured to the Nou Camp for an incredible £97 million this past transfer window, joining the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in the Catalan ranks.
It looked as if such a swoop would leave somewhat of a gap in the Black and Yellows’ squad, but Thomas Tuchel moved swiftly to sign another promising talent to replace Dembele in the form of Jadon Sancho.
The highly-rated 17-year-old arrives at Dortmund as an ideal replacement for Dembele, having been instantly handed the famous number seven jersey at his new German employers.
In signing for the Bundesliga powerhouse, Sancho has made history by becoming the first ever English player to represent the club. At just 17 years of age, there is a lot of pressure and expectations on his very youthful shoulders, but he has plenty of experience and the talent required to make his time on German soil a success in the near future.
He joins a Dortmund side that are aiming to once again wrestle the domestic German crown from bitter rivals and title front-runners Bayern Munich in the 2017/18 campaign.
While the Bavarians are the leading favorites to prevail outright once again, Dortmund are a highly promising 13/2 in the Bundesliga betting from bet365 to dethrone Carlo Ancelotti’s dominant Bayern outfit.
The London native Sancho never made a senior appearance for his previous club, Manchester City, but he was a star for their youth sides as he spent the past couple years within the blue side of Manchester’s academy system.
Late in 2017, he had a falling out with the club’s hierarchy due to a lack of assurance about his eventual playing time in the Man City first team. The teenage talent, who originally was on Premier League side Watford’s books as a youth player, then opted to move away from England and pursue playing time elsewhere.
That’s when Dortmund came calling and they subsequently offered the Sky Blues £8 million for his services, which was accepted before making the move to Germany permanent.
The English capital-born starlet was instantly put into the Black and Yellows’ first team, showing Tuchel’s admiration of the youngster’s talents on the pitch.