Wayne Rooney has some advice for Jadon Sancho – and Manchester United fans won’t like it
Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has told England international Jadon Sancho to ignore Premier League interest and stay at Borussia Dortmund.
The 19-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford after a superb breakthrough season in the Bundesliga in 2018/19.
Sancho scored 12 league goals and provided 14 assists for Dortmund as they finished runners-up to Bayern Munich.
Rooney, who now plays for DC United in Major League Soccer, told German newspaper BILD that his compatriot’s development would be best served by continuing to get regular game time at Signal Iduna Park.
"Dortmund is a great club with great fans, they trust their young players, and you can see that in Sancho and the progress he has made in the last 12 months,” said Rooney.
"Now Jadon has to ask himself whether he would get the playing time he gets in Dortmund when he moves to England, or would he just sit on the bench?
"Playing time is so important for a young player like Jadon, so if he gets the most playing time in Dortmund, he should stay there."
Now read...
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
ANALYSIS Why Atletico Madrid may be forced to sell Saul Niguez to Manchester United this summer
USWNT How the United States got a head start on everybody else in women's football
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
'People will remember us because we got to No.1 in the world rankings and achieved great things - but our biggest regret is that we didn’t win anything': Ex-Everton star Kevin Mirallas opens up on 'honour' of being part of nation's golden generation
‘I’m sure we’d have finished in the top four or five if he hadn’t joined Chelsea in January. Him leaving damaged the team, but we couldn’t stand in his way’: Alan Curbishley reflects on failed Champions League dream after selling key player