Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has given an explanation for how his club managed to see off so much competition for the Jadon Sancho transfer last year.
The 18-year-old has been a revelation in the Bundesliga since leaving Manchester City last season, and his fine form has just earned him his first call up to the senior England squad.
This has inevitably led to reports that Sancho is now being targeted by English clubs again, with the Daily Mirror claiming the youngster could even cost up to £100million soon.
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At the time Dortmund signed him, the Independent were among the sources claiming the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United were interested in him, though they were priced out of the move at the time, perhaps unwilling to pay too much for an unproven player.
Another piece from the Mirror now states Sancho had offers from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as well, but Zorc is quoted in the story as saying his club’s record of trusting and developing youth maybe gave them the edge in the transfer battle.
‘I think he has chosen us because for more than a decade our strategy has been to transfer the best European talents, to trust them, give them a lot of time on the pitch and make them better and better,’ Zorc said.
‘His development over the past two years is fantastic. Jadon is one of the most exciting players in Europe. Normally, boys of this age are of course still lacking in effectiveness, but Jadon is very effective. He scores on a regular basis. The most important point: he has something unpredictable!
‘For example, you never know if he will go left or right in one-on-one situations. He enriches our game and honestly reminds me a little bit of Ousmane Dembele on the pitch.’
Dortmund have certainly done well in recent times to sign young players on the cheap and sell them on for a profit, with Dembele a great example as his value soared after just one season with BVB before heading off for Barcelona.
Sancho looks to be their latest great discovery, though it would no doubt be great to see him back in the Premier League in the future.
The teenager could no doubt do a job for Arsenal and United now, both of whom have under-achieved in recent times and could do with more quality in attack, with the former in need of something a little different from ageing and inconsistent performers like Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and the latter in need of upgrades on the disappointing Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Rashford.