For the first edition of the 'A Place in the Sun' feature, which looks at British footballers brave enough to seek opportunities abroad, we look at Jadon Sancho, the England starlet tearing up the Bundesliga.
Born on 25th March 2000 in Camberwell, London, Jadon Malik Sancho probably never imagined he would make his name in football outside of England. And yet, he followed one stellar outing after another and has quickly established himself as one of the key players for German side Borussia Dortmund as they look to seize the Bundesliga title from rivals Bayern Munich.
He started his career off at Watford at the age of seven, attending partner school Harefield Academy as a boarder. He moved at age 14 to Manchester City where he earned high praise for his performances. In the summer of 2017, Sancho would earn his move to Dortmund following a dispute in playing time with City. Immediately fast-tracked into the first team, Sancho made his debut for Dortmund against Eintracht Frankfurt, coming on as a second half-substitute.
Since then his career has been on a massive upward spiral as he continued to grow from strength to strength with the German side. In October 2018, he earned his first Bundesliga Player Of The Month award with 3 goals and 1 assist in just 3 league games.
His rise through the club ranks did not go unnoticed by the England national setup. Even as Sancho was earning his move to Germany, he was part of the England Under-17 team that won the World Cup in India that year. And following a brief appearance for the nation’s Under-19 side in the Euro Qualifiers, he was called to the senior side and made his full international debut coming on as a substitute against Croatia.
This season with Dortmund has been a breakout year both in terms of his club and international career and given that he is still only 18 years of age, he is definitely the cornerstone for the future of English football.