Jadon Sancho slumped to a new low on Sunday afternoon as he was subbed on and later hooked by Aston Villa boss Unai Emery.
The winger, who is yet to start a league game for his new side, was left on the bench once again by Emery against Manchester City before replacing the injured Emi Buendia after 29 minutes.
However Sancho, brought on to play his preferred left wing position, struggled to get in to the game. His only real impact came moments after half-time when he forced a save out of Gigi Donnarumma from close range.
And on 74 minutes – less than an hour after he was introduced – Emery had seen enough. Sancho was replaced by Ross Barkley and the former Man United star was far from shy in expressing his frustration as he trudged towards the dugout.
After initially snubbing Barkley for a high-five on his way off, Sancho too gave Emery the cold shoulder as the Villa boss tried to console him.
Yet, despite Sancho’s fury, the Villans went on to secure all three points against an in-form Manchester City side thanks to a first half strike from Matty Cash.
Emery later insisted that taking off Sancho was always his plan, saying: ‘It was not easy, firstly, after Sancho played 60 minutes against Go Ahead (in the Europa League on Thursday). He is getting fit, but not enough.
‘I planned as well with him to play him in the second half, but after the injury to Buendia, I decided to get him on the field as best as possible to get minutes and fitness, using his skills and qualities.
‘His impact was good, but I knew before that it was my plan was to sub him, and I did it before with Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia.
‘It was not a punishment, it was a plan – he played 45 minutes. The other sub players were ready. Malen, Maatsen and Barkley were all very good.’
Sancho has endured a torrid few years since he signed for United for a whopping £73million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2021.
He moved to Old Trafford on the back of a Bundesliga season where he’d scored eight goals and assisted 12, but never came close to reaching such heights in the north-west.
The 25-year-old scored just 12 and provided six during his entire United career before returning to Dortmund on-loan in the January of 2024. He enjoyed something of a renaissance back in Germany, helping BVB on their way to a Champions League final.
Such performances earned him a loan move to Chelsea the following summer, who had an obligation to make the move a permanent one come the end of the deal.
However such were the winger’s west London struggles that Enzo Maresca and co opted to pay £5m to send him back to Old Trafford, where he had no future under Ruben Amorim.
Emery offered Sancho an exit route on Deadline Day a couple of months ago, with the Englishman moving to Villa Park along with Liverpool star Harvey Elliott.
But it’s been far from easy going in the Midlands for either new recruit. While Sancho’s failed to register any goal contributions, Elliott’s found himself stuck on the bench and struggling for minutes under Villa’s adored boss.
Emery nevertheless assured Sancho that he’s in his plans last month. The Spaniard told reporters he aims to get the winger ‘back to his best’ and in the England squad.
‘Yes, of course, this is my objective, to get him back to his best – and if he does that, then he’ll come back to the national team,’ Emery said.
‘Every player wants to be part of the national team. When he was in Borussia Dortmund, he performed fantastic. And he played with the national team 25 matches, more or less.
‘Of course, he’s still young. He’s still being hungry to show his capacity to play with his skills, his qualities, and hopefully we can exploit here, again, his best.’
Despite their early-season woes, Villa are now unbeaten in seven and sit seventh in the Premier League.
Their win against Manchester City was an authoritative one, and one which will give supporters hope heading into a busy November and December.
They’re next in action on Saturday at Anfield against Liverpool.
