DORTMUND, Nov 29 — Jadon Sancho was dropped from Borussia Dortmund’s starting lineup at Barcelona this week following another disciplinary problem, club officials said today, but the English starlet is not being sold.
Sancho did not start Wednesday’s Champions League game. He came on at half-time with Dortmund losing and scored a remarkable goal to make the final score 3-1 to Barca.
Dortmund general manager Michael Zorc said German press reports that the 19-year-old missed a team breakfast and morning warm-up and arrived late for a talk by coach Lucien Favre, were wide of the mark.
“It’s not exactly that,” Zorc said Friday, but he did not deny there was an incident. “We talked about it internally, with him and with the team. For us the case is closed, we look forward. Jadon is a normal player and part of the team.”
Sancho sent out a tweet yesterday saying he had shown his commitment on the field and intended to do so against Hertha Berlin at the weekend.
“Think I showed heart n desire last night anyway we will try our best to get the 3 points on Saturday!” wrote Sancho.
Zorc insisted the club were not about to be forced to sell Sancho.
“I do not have the impression that we are going towards a transfer this winter, according to the conversations we had with him and his agents,” said Zorc.
Dortmund bought Sancho in 2017 for €7.8 million (RM35.8 million) from Manchester City, where he had never played in the first team. He has since become an England international.
He has six goals and nine assists in 18 club games this season but was also dropped for one match and fined for coming back late from international duty in October. — AFP
