Aston Villa Star Not An Unai Emery Player Insists Former Villa Man
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Former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie is of the view that Jadon Sancho is not an Unai Emery player and feels that the attacker is only playing due to injuries which have hampered the Villans.
Sancho joined Aston Villa in the summer from Manchester United on a season-long loan deal.
The England international’s spell at Villa follows his loan stints at Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea since falling out with former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.
The 25-year old has often played second fiddle for the Villans this season, starting only four games in the Premier League so far.
Sancho is yet to score or assist for Emery’s side in the league and has only scored once all season.
Former Villa man Hendrie believes that Sancho is not an Emery player, insisting that the Manchester United loanee is only playing due to injury absences in the Aston Villa squad.
Hendrie is critical of Sancho for being too passive, unlike Marcus Rashford, who also joined Aston Villa on loan from Manchester United, last season.
The 48-year-old compared the two forwards and pointed out the differences in their aggressiveness and consistency levels.
“I’m not so sure [if they will look to keep him permanently]. At times you watch Jadon Sancho and you know there is a player in there”, Hendrie said on No Tippy Tappy Football (27:11).
“I do not think he is an Unai Emery player.
“I think the only reason why at the moment he is playing in the team is because they are hampered with injuries.
“And he is having to change things.
“[Against Brentford] I wouldn’t say he was non-existent, but he was too safe for me in the first half until the second half, where it was like Unai said ‘start getting at your player, start producing something’.
“I think playing in that wide area for him, it was like Marcus Rashford when he came to Villa last season, he knew he had to make something happen.
“He had to make people recognise that Marcus Rashford was not finished because he left Manchester United, he knew that there was maybe a Barcelona, which he ended up getting a move to.
“I do not see that with Jadon Sancho and that is where I think, yes he has come in and he has done okay at times, but consistent levels playing in that position are massive in the Premier League.
“I don’t think he’s showed that at Chelsea, when he’s been at Manchester United.”
Sancho joined Manchester United in July 2021 after a hugely successful spell with German giants Borussia Dortmund, but he has failed to replicate that form on his return to England.
As a result, he was again of interest to the Bundesliga side before the January window but the move did not materialise.
Whether Sancho is able to establish himself as a key player for Aston Villa in the coming months remains to be seen.
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