I've never been so un-hyped about a player than Sancho.
I feel like he is a bit of a tap in merchant and ultimately Greenwood has covered the weaknesses that we were so dying to to cover on the right hand side.
The only reason I actually want Sancho is because he is this hyped up young british kid and I feel like United should have the best ones at their disposal - if he is so as good as everyone make him out to be.
I feel like it's his 'young British kid having a success in the Bundesliga' that made many people or the media want him here - because I'm still unsure about him.
I'd have a left footed RW/RAM over him any day of the week alongside a CDB, a left footed CB maybe even a LB etc.
There is just so much wrong with this post it's hard to know where to start.
A tap in merchant with 33 goals in 2 seasons as an 18 and 19 year old winger? Why can't other Dortmund players produce what he does in their system if its just about tapping in goals? He blows people away even if you consider Dortmund of the last 10 years of which had many exciting talents. Nevermind the fact that's only just turned 20. There is consistency in his numbers btw, of which you couldn't get for a peak Mkhitaryan, who was a 1 season wonder.
Him being British is relevant in that we can have him for 10+ years. Sure he could move to Real or something later, but him being British increases your chances of him staying compared to other top talents. This is important and is indeed a reason why I want him.
Him being British is not relevant when discussing his actual talent and production. You're mixing the two as synonymous. How does him being British make us want him over other talents? We want him because of his production. We're talking about an age 19 season having 20 goals and 20 assists! Which 19 year old had that in the past 10 years in not just the top 5 leagues, but top 7 leagues? If it's so easy. And I'm not implying you think it's easy, but just stressing the fact that him actually doing it is meaningful. The fact that I have to expand the player pool to get those numbers as a teenager says everything. You'll have Mbappe for sure. I'm not saying he is above Mbappe btw.
And this goes back to your tap in merchant thing. It's not just that he's scoring and assisting goals at a rate that is special for an 18-19 year old. He's also getting secondary assists more than others, which is the pass that leads to an assist. His technique is great. We're not talking about Depay, who is decent technically. We're talking another level in technical ability.
Finally, he is an immense dribbler for his age. Here are statistics showing Sancho's dribbling stats to great dribblers in the PL.
per 90 (successful/attempted/%successful)
Sancho age 18: 4.1/6.8 / 60.3%
Sancho age 19: 3.0 /5.4 / 55.6%
Hazard age 19: 2.0 /5.3 / 37.7%
Hazard age 20: 2.9 /6 / 48.3%
Hazard age 21: 2.5 /4.9 / 51%
Hazard age 22: 2.1 /4.4 / 47.7% (Premier League)
Hazard age 23: 4.1 /6.5 / 63.1% (Premier League)
Sane age 19: 3.3 /6.8 / 48.5%
Sane age 20: 3.5 /7.7 / 45.5%
Sage age 21: 2.7 /4.8 / 56.3% (PL)
Sane age 22: 3.2 /4.9 / 65.3% (PL)
Notice how Sancho is the superior teenage dribbler. Take note of the fact that I'm comparing Sancho to Hazard and Sane at the same level of competition if you consider the Bundesliga a lesser league. In other words, it's not Bundesliga Sancho vs PL Hazard vs PL Sane as that would be unfair. It's Bundesliga Sancho vs Bundesliga Sane vs Ligue 1 Hazard, which is fair.
And also take note of the fact that both Hazard and Sane improved in their dribbling as they reached their 20s. So it's very much possible that Sancho improves his dribbling ability and translates it to PL football. He could do this more than any of our other talents.
So a tap in merchant to describe Sancho is an insane comment to make.
Quality strength in depth is as important if not more important then signing Sancho. Our reserves are basically crap and we are forced to run the first team to the ground.
The emergence of Greenwood should put things into a certain perspective. I wonder if we need a Lb more then a RW. Shaw is a crock and Williams is cack.
Quality strength in depth being more important than Sancho and acquiring Sancho aren't mutually exclusive. It's only mutually exclusive if you're looking at 1 window to solve our problems. Expand that to another summer or 2 summers to solve our problems and this becomes clearer.
Essentially what you're deciding is that you would rather
2020/21 team at a level of 8/10, 2021/22 team at a level of 8.5/10
as opposed to
2020/21 team at a level of 7.5/10, 2021/22 team at a level of 9/10
What matters is which team will give us the best chance at winning titles. I take the one with Sancho rather than the one that prioritizes depth for immediate return, when we can always get that depth the next summer because those depth pieces are much more easily attainable than a talent of the caliber of Sancho. You miss out on cheaper options, there is no problem. You can find those talents the next summer. You can't do that with Sancho.
A quick look at history would show that his production and ability is quite rare. And if you do find such a talent (Dembele/Mbappe), they'll be just as expensive. And guess what? We'll be stuck right back in this loop of a conversation of "should we spend all of our money on 1 player, or focus on depth?"