After the FIFA Days in March, Chelsea will return to the Premier League with a home match against Tottenham in round 30.
In the first leg between the two teams in December 2024, Chelsea were behind 2-0 away after only 11 minutes but then created a comeback to win a dramatic 4-3 victory.
Of Chelsea's four goals, Jadon Sancho scored to reduce the gap to 1-2. In the 17th minute, he received a pass from Marc Cucurella, headed straight towards the opponent's penalty area, overcame 2 Spurs players before firing a dangerous low shot to defeat goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
That was Sancho's most explosive moment since wearing a Chelsea shirt on loan. Since then, that sublime image has almost completely disappeared.
After nearly 4 months since the win over Tottenham, Sancho has only 1 assist for Cole Palmer. Sancho's performance over the past 3 months has made many Man United fans nod and exclaim: "It's true."
Not scoring and not assisting are already big problems, Sancho's courage is no longer there. Recently, he has only often received the ball in areas with few disputes. From then on, the danger and suddenness he created were gone.
Since assisting Cole Palmer against Crystal Palace, Sancho's every index has been lower. The English midfielder has an average of 10 fewer touches (47.3, down from 57.5). fewer shots (1.2), fewer dribbling efforts (4.2, down from 5.4) and fewer passes (34.9, down from 42.2) per 90 minutes, compared to his first 15 Premier League games for Chelsea.
When borrowing Sancho from Man United, it was not confirmed whether Chelsea were subject to a buy-in clause or not. According to The Athletic, if the Stamford Bridge side do not buy Sancho this summer, they will be fined £5 million.
Therefore, when negotiating the Sancho case, Chelsea may commit to paying Man United a fixed fee so as not to have to deal with a disruption.
Although Sancho is in very poor form on the pitch, on the training pitch at Cobham, he is considered the most energetic and enthusiastic player. The 25-year-old striker has shown no signs of inexperience and has made clear his intention to stay with Chelsea.
"let's take it step by step. I know I can do better when I have the ball in front of the opponent's goal. It's uncomfortable not being able to score, but I need to be more patient" - Sancho shared.
It is expected that after the Premier League this season ends, Sancho and Chelsea will sit together to find a common path. The problem here is not money, it is simply whether both sides still feel happy to go the long way together or not. Currently, The Blues are paying about half of the salary Sancho is receiving at Man United.
Chelsea have reason to trust Sancho for a while longer because the moment this striker shined also coincided with Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer in good form. Currently, Enzo Maresca's attack is very patchwork when the pillars are injured or lose form. Is Sancho just a victim of this stage?
Chelsea are an unstable team at the moment, so it is understandable that the players are also unstable. This is also the reason why Maresca should be more patient with Sancho for a while longer. Once the pillars return from injury and regain their form, if Sancho was still bad at that time, he had no reason to join The Blues.
Chelsea are currently ranked 4th in the Premier League rankings with 49 points after 24 matches. They are 5 points behind the top team Nottingham Forest, and only 1 point behind the bottom team Man City.
