Aston Villa have obvious Jadon Sancho transfer mistake they must avoid, here’s what Unai Emery had to say
Unai Emery has opened the door to a permanent Jadon Sancho transfer to Aston Villa.
Sancho swapped Manchester United for Villa last summer after Chelsea passed up the chance to turn his loan move into a permanent deal.
The Blues incurred a £5million penalty just to avoid signing him for good, before Villa took a chance on the 25-year-old.
So far, the England international has scored one goal and added one assist in 23 matches for the Villa Park outfit in all competitions.
Despite his lack of goal contributions, Villa boss Emery is not ruling out Sancho having a longer stay at the club beyond his current deal.
Unai Emery open to permanent Jadon Sancho move to Aston Villa
Last season on loan at Chelsea, Sancho played 41 times, scored five goals, and bagged 10 assists as they won the Conference League and qualified for the Champions League.
On 26 occasions, Sancho was in the starting XI for the Blues but at this rate, he won’t chalk up those kinds of numbers at Villa.
Indeed, he has started 12 times this season, with six of those coming in Europa League matches. Two goal contributions does not make for great reading, but Emery clearly sees potential in Sancho.
Asked whether he would be open to signing the former Borussia Dortmund star, Emery said ahead of Villa’s Premier League clash with Brighton on Wednesday, “Not yet, but he is a fantastic player.
“Hopefully, he can help us by increasing his qualities in our structure, like he is doing. He will need another contract, and maybe it could be here. If he plays his best football, we will want him. But also other teams could be involved in the interest for him.”
That suggests former Paris Saint-Germain boss Emery wants more time to work with Sancho, whose United contract expires this summer.
Aston Villa should try to swerve a Sancho signing
It has been repeated ad-nauseum but it is important to mention that United forked out a whopping £73m to sign Sancho from Dortmund in July 2021.
But the 30+ goal contribution seasons he produced at Dortmund are nowhere to be seen in the Premier League. And it has not just been a one-off; every season since his return to England, Sancho has underwhelmed.
Sancho has struggled on the pitch at times and signs of a bad attitude have been seen time and time again off it, firstly under former United boss Erik ten Hag, before being surplus to requirements when Ruben Amorim was at the helm.
| Jadon Sancho’s Premier League nightmare | Goal contributions |
| Aston Villa (2025-26) | 2 in 23 games |
| Chelsea (2024-25) | 15 in 41 games |
| Manchester United (2021-present) | 18 in 83 games |
Sancho doesn’t have the pace to go round players, he is not an out-and-out winger that is so commonplace in the English top-flight, and his end product is questionnable.
Sancho would be a free agent this summer but he is likely to demand big wages, and his stock isn’t going up. Plus, his reputation isn’t what it once was.
Emery has repeatedly improved the players he has worked with but the Spaniard is not a miracle worker and Villa may be better off looking elsewhere.
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