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Manchester United may have been right all along as Enzo Maresca has been warned Chelsea signing Jadon Sancho will ‘never be a consistent’ Premier League player.
Sancho initially showed promising signs after leaving United for Chelsea last summer but his form – like the club’s – has dropped off since December.
The England international scored in back-to-back games at the start of December but those remain his only goals in a Chelsea shirt.
The dip in form has led Maresca to take Sancho out of the team, with the likes of Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke and Christopher Nkunku challenging the 24-year-old for a place in the side.
Sancho returned to Chelsea’s starting line-up in last week’s 4-0 win over Southampton but was subbed off in the second half without a goal or an assist.
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Ex-Chelsea defender William Gallas has not been surprised by Sancho’s dip in form as he doubts he will ever be ‘consistent’ in the Premier League.
Gallas’ verdict would seemingly endorse Manchester United’s decision to offload Sancho after his difficult spell at Old Trafford.
As part of the loan deal, Chelsea will sign Sancho on a permanent transfer in the summer for between £20-25m.
That relatively low fee led to claims Chelsea had agreed the ‘best transfer deal ever’ but Gallas doubts his former club have added a ‘consistent’ star to the squad at Stamford Bridge.
‘Jadon Sancho knows what he needs to do,’ two-time Premier League winner Gallas told Slingo.
‘Maybe sometimes players forget that at the end of the season everyone will look at your statistics, your goals and assists, and then judge your season.
‘He has a lot of potential and he has real quality, that’s why people are disappointed in his recent performances.
‘In all honesty, I don’t know if he can be consistent in the Premier League. That is the most difficult thing about playing in England.
‘You have to push yourself to the limit and not just once, you have to do it all season. Some players just cannot do it, it’s just too much for them.
‘Fans are frustrated because they want to see what Jadon Sancho did at Borussia Dortmund, but he might never perform like that again.’
Another former Chelsea player, John Obi Mikel, has also expressed concern at Sancho’s recent performances for the Blues.
‘Jadon Sancho, he came here and he’s deceived us with a few good games,’ the ex-title winner said on the Obi One Podcast.
‘We thought, ‘Oh f*****g hell, now we’re getting the Jadon Sancho from (Borussia) Dortmund’.
‘He’s gone again. He’s gone. I don’t know what’s happened to Jadon. He’s disappeared off the grid.
‘He takes the ball, he doesn’t go past players anymore, he doesn’t create chances anymore. He doesn’t help the team as much as he should be.’
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