The resumption of the Bundesliga has seen some players pick up from where they left off, and one man to have stood out is England winger Jadon Sancho.
The 20-year-old is having the best season of his career to date, having thrived – despite his young age – since switching to Germany in 2017.
In his first full Bundesliga season, Sancho scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists, earning special acclaim for the latter and being rewarded with a call up to the England senior squad.
Although Thomas Muller is challenging for his crown this season, Sancho continues to thrive in the assist coulmn and, in Borussia Dortmund‘s 2-0 win over Wolfsburg in gameweek 27, recorded his 16th assist of the campaign – extending his personal best for a single campaign.
This season Sancho has also added more goals to his game, truly becoming a danger either side of a pass – whether setting up or finishing.
Dortmund‘s 6-1 win over Paderborn last weekend was Sancho’s first start since Germany’s top tier took an enforced break as he has struggled with injury problems, and saw the Englishman reach another milestone. Three second-half goals brought Sancho the first hat-trick of his senior career and took his total goal tally to 17 for the season.
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It made Sancho just the fifth player to record 15+ goals and 15+ assists in a single season of one of Europe’s top five leagues, joining Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez. Sancho also became the youngest ever player to reach 30 total Bundesliga goals, breaking Kai Havertz’s record.
Being on a list alongside the likes of Messi, Hazard, Ronaldo and Suarez is impressive on its own, but Sancho also produced numbers that England hasn’t seen for a long time. Not since Matt Le Tissier in 1994/95 had an Englishman scored 15+ goals and recorded 15+ assists in a single league season in one of Europe’s top five divisions – achieving something many former greats and current teammates have failed to do.
And Sancho’s record of being directly involved in 33 goals so far this season stands up pretty well against them.
Jadon Sancho vs Matt Le Tissier
Starting off with the man Sancho joined, Le Tissier was one of the stars of the Premier League‘s early years, scoring 100 goals and recording 64 assists during his career.
In the aforementioned 1994/95 season, five years before Sancho’s birth, Le Tissier scored 19 goals and recorded 15 assists at Southampton, helping them to a 10th placed finish having flirted with relegation the previous campaign.
It was the second year in a row in which Le Tissier had been directly involved in 34 goals in a single Premier League campaign, but the numbers were more split compared to his 25 goals and nine assists in 1993/94. With Sancho having five games remaining, expect the 20-year-old to move clear of Le Tissier in regards to a combined goals and assists total.
Jadon Sancho vs Marcus Rashford
Another Englishman enjoying a good personal season in 2019/20 is Sancho’s Three Lions team-mate Marcus Rashford, with the pair expected to make up the nation’s front line for years to come.
Before injury stopped him in his tracks, Rashford had reached double figures in the Premier League for just the second time in his career, after last season, and broke his personal record by reaching 14.
Playing both through the middle and on the wing, often switching with Anthony Martial when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was trying to figure out how best to replace Romelu Lukaku, Rashford also added four assists in 22 games. Standing at 18 goal contributions overall, Rashford‘s return would almost certainly be closer to Sancho’s had he not been missing since January through injury, such was his form going into the New Year.
But Rashford will have the chance to reach at least 20 when the Premier League returns.
Jadon Sancho vs Andy Cole
Sancho’s 33 goal contributions this season is a remarkable return for someone of his age, but he still has some way to go to match the record for an Englishman. And don’t expect it to come this season.
Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer currently hold the record among Englishmen in the Premier League era for most goal involvements in a single season in a top-five European league, at 47.
Cole achieved his record during the 1993/94 season, scoring 34 goals and recording 13 assists in 40 games for Newcastle United to help the Magpies finish third and qualify for the Uefa Cup. Alan Shearer also scored 34 goals and recorded 13 assists but played two games more than Cole, for Blackburn Rovers, en route to winning the Premier League.
To see how Sancho compares to other English icons, check out the full gallery on Squawka’s Instagram page.
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