"He's shaking and baking top players here" - Rio Ferdinand praises on-loan Manchester United star Jadon Sancho's UCL SF performance

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has hailed the performance of on-loan midfielder Jadon Sancho for Borussia Dortmund in their UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg win over PSG in midweek.

Niclas Fulkrug's 35th-minute strike proved to be the winner that sunk the Ligue 1 champions on Wednesday (May 1). Sancho - who didn't register a goal contribution - had a fabulous outing.

On loan at BvB for the rest of the season after arriving in January, the 24-year-old winger sizzled with a game-high 12 tackles, duels (13), take-ons (12) and chances (3).

Dissecting Sancho's performance against the Parisians, Ferdinand told TNT Sports (as per Mirror) that he saw a different version of his compatriot:

"He's shaking and baking top players here. He's putting people on the floor, he's making people dance. It was a joke what he did today, and we haven't seen this, probably since he was at Dortmund before.

"He isn't just a dribbler. He isn't just somebody who runs and runs past people with pace. He's a footballer who wants to come in and play one-twos, be part of the game and the tempo of that game."

Ferdinand added:

"What I saw today more than anything, which I haven't seen and have been waiting to see, and all Manchester United fans have been waiting to see, I saw cage-football Sancho today. This is the kid that grew up in cages, with that arrogance and that little bit of swagger."

"I've been sitting here saying that it's there but we haven't seen it. He's in a groove. Once someone gets in a groove, we've seen it with different sportsmen in different sports, football, especially, when they're in the groove and the confidence is there, they churn these performances out."

Sancho has three goals and two assists in 17 games across competitions for BvB this season.

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How Jadon Sancho has fared at Manchester United

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho has had a largely forgettable stint at Old Trafford since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2021.

In 82 games across competitions, he has bagged 12 goals and six assists. This season, he has appeared just thrice - all in the Premier League and off the bench - making no goal contribution.

Despite his impressive recent outing at BvB, Sancho faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford because of a public bust-up with manager Erik ten Hag, which saw him ostracised from the first-team environment since August.