Jadon Sancho is a controversial figure. He’s had his problems with Manchester United, found his form back at Borussia Dortmund, and found both his form and problems while at Chelsea, and ultimately, the question the decision makers will be asking at Chelsea is: Is Jadon Sancho worth it?

I think ultimately the decision will come down to what Chelsea does regarding their other players and who they bring in or who they sell. 

The 5-winger plan

Chelsea have been reported to have a plan in which Chelsea will have five wingers at the club across both wings.

This would represent highly competent depth, which makes sense given the team will be expected to play at least 50-60 games a season, cup competitions included.

The issue is that Chelsea already have five at the club and two incoming as future transfers.

Mykhalio Mudryk also blurs the plans as it’s still unknown whether he will be suspended from the sport or be available to play for Chelsea again soon. 

Ultimately, the club’s plan likely involves offloading a few wingers and bringing in more to replace them.

I do not see Mudryk ever playing again for Chelsea, nor do I see Tyrique George being a starting winger for a few years to come.

This leaves Chelsea with three present wingers: Neto, Madueke, and Sancho. 

With the impending arrival of Estevao, this takes the tally up to four. With Quenda expected to join even later in 2026, this takes the tally up to five. 

That should be the five wingers there sorted, but the club is still looking to add a left winger to the squad, which makes sense considering Quenda is not joining until 2026. 

In addition to that, there is definitely an intriguing element to the entire situation squad building wise. 

Sancho is the only winger at the club that I would say specialises in ball-retention and operating in really tight situations and it doesn’t appear that Chelsea are targeting someone else that offers that, with the main targets being Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho.

Both targets are more ‘Noni-like’ in the sense that they will provide output actions in shooting, aggressive take on quantities and runs in behind defences.

This is probably something that’s been needed on the left side, with Neto only being able to provide runs in behind as opposed to the other two actions I mentioned. 

Having a five winger lineup of :

• Madueke
• Sancho
• Neto
• Estevao
• Bynoe-Gittens/Garnacho

satisfies the profile requirements of having wingers that:

• Stretch defences (run in behind effectively)
• Operate well in tight spaces
• Link up well with other players
• Shoot
• Take on defenders
• Score goals

With all this in mind, it makes total sense to keep Jadon Sancho. 

I am also pretty convinced that Quenda will join Chelsea as a left wing-back especially due to our insistence in not targeting anyone that can overlap on the left (Hato is the only left back that’s been targeted and he can’t really overlap). 

Positionally speaking, this lineup also means we have wingers that can operate on the inside and on the touchline on both sides, providing options tactically for any game we’d want.

In addition to this, Palmer is more than capable of operating off the right and moving into the half space instead of occupying the touchline. 

Ignoring the plan, what about Sancho as a player? :

I do think that spending 25 million on Jadon Sancho is completely justifiable, regardless of the plan.

If we argue ‘well Tyrique George can do what Sancho does for free and buying Jadon would only block his pathway’, I hear it but I’d also again refer to the point that I don’t think we have or want anyone that actually does what Sancho can do. 

Sancho is far from the perfect winger, but the idea he is a bad player is simply a misguided one made through misguided expectations.

Sancho is someone who underwent a positional play academy education, not someone that grew up being a mega explosive winger doing whatever he wanted and popping off shots constantly from the edge of the box. 

However, both clubs in Manchester United and Chelsea emphasise action and chaos over calm and control.

Sancho is ironically an embodiment over the modern footballing debate about the ‘death of football’ due to ‘Pep Guardiola’.

Do you enjoy a winger that will help you control a game and break down a low block systematically or do you enjoy a winger that will endlessly take on their opponent and pop off shots when they can?

This ultimately is what defines how you rate Sancho.

There’s a reason he enjoyed his time at Dortmund more than he did at Manchester United.

If you watch any games of him at Dortmund in the Bundesliga or even just watch a highlight reel on YouTube, you quickly see that most of his highlights are him scoring goals in space you see once a season in the Premier League or him offering excellent ball retention and linking up in a stylish fashion with his teammates.

This is simply who he is. Someone that will get the ball, lay it off nicely to a team mate or keep it well under pressure and enable teams to sustain pressure.

This is what he’s known, and this is what he’s good at. Unfortunately. at Chelsea and Mancheter Untied and due to the nature of the league, he has been asked to do things he simply can’t do. 

Sancho is not someone that is going to drive down the wing and deliver a remarkable cross every game, nor is he someone that’s going to score 15 goals a season and take on his player at every possible avenue.

Yet, unfortunately this is what the fans of Chelsea and Manchester United have grown to expect of him, for one reason or another. 

In a world where goals and assists mean everything, wingers that do the little things like Sancho rarely feel appreciation and this is sadly the case with him.

I genuinely feel that Sancho can only truly succeed at a few clubs in the Premier League.

Not because he is a bad player, but simply because he just doesn’t suit the culture of English clubs.

He would be a better winger for Manchester City than he would at Manchester United simply because of who he is as a player. 

This is why we should keep him. If the club is serious with Maresca and if not Maresca, with their approach of having a JdP coach at the club then fans are going to just have to deal with it and in turn the function that Sancho provides will become more obvious and easier to understand.

And, if I’m honest, not getting someone that provides this for just 25 million in the market that exists today would be madness. 

Overall, yes, Sancho has his limitations. But what he offers is too unique to just throw away. Players of his profile tend to take a while to operate naturally in the manner he does.

Yet, Sancho is a natural and comes packaged wrapped and ready for just 25 million. 

So, Sancho to stay?

I’d say yes. He is cheap and offers a different profile to what we have and what is coming in the near future.

Also, he has good relationships with the younger players at the club too, getting on well with Reggie Walsh and Tyrique George, there is an emerging personality and leader inside that perhaps we did not expect.

In my opinion, the only valid concern is that it blocks academy pathways, but this is unfortunately the reality that most big clubs face. Tyrique George needs a loan first anyway. 

He’s a profile we need, he’s a profile that is valuable in modern football and most importantly he’s relatively cheap.

Besides, it might stop us spending unnecessary money buying an unnecessary winger, allowing more funds to be directed towards buying a striker.