Will signing Jadon Sancho make Manchester United Champions again?

Manchester United have recently signed Jadon Sancho for a colossal £73 million. Will he help them to the Premier League title or will it be another season of disappointment for the Red Devils? The jury's out on that one.

United finished 2nd last season, even looking like unlikely title contenders at one point as Liverpool became a shadow of themselves and Man City faltered. Their title challenge was built on a series of comebacks, winning 9 times from a losing position in the league.

Ultimately, United came up short as Man City found another gear as a lack of a cutting edge and defensive fragility cost United the title.

Manchester United: Problems in Defence and attack

Despite finishing 2nd, much was made of United's defensive shortcomings last season, especially at center back. There seemed to be a lack of a suitable partner for Harry Maguire as Lindelof and Bailly struggled.

The issue seems to have been resolved thanks to the imminent signing of Rafael Varane. Varane is a pacy, ball-playing centre-half who will be the perfect partner to compliment Maguire's more rugged attributes.

However, despite scoring 73 goals in the league (the 2nd highest), United still struggled in attack. That was in part due to an over-reliance on midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who was the leading goalscorer with 28 in all competitions, though plenty of those were penalties.

Cavani, Greenwood and Rashford all contributed a decent number of goals but none of them were consistent the whole season due to injury and poor form. United relied too heavily on Fernandes for creativity last season.

Whenever he failed to apply the creative spark, it was hard to see where else in the team it was coming from.

Can signing Sancho provide the spark United lack?

Sancho's signing will ultimately go a long way towards addressing United's difficulties. He's been second only to Thomas Muller and Messi for goals and assists since 2018/19 and is a regular creative outlet. You only need to watch his performances for Borussia Dortmund to see his obvious talent.

It was strange to see how little playing time he got at the Euros. He provides creativity which will bolster United's attacking options and also stop the need to rely on Fernandes so much. Sancho is definitely of a similar calibre to Fernandes and it is likely those two will link up to devastating effect next season.

As well as being a regular contributor of goals and assists, Sancho is blessed with amazing dribbling and ball control, being able to beat his man with trickery. This is something United have lacked for a long time and made their attacking play look one-dimensional at times.

This was especially when Fernandes was having an off-day (which happened more often than you might think).

Of the current United squad, only Rashford possesses the dribbling ability that Sancho has. Sancho may be able to unlock those tight defenses that United struggled so much against last season.

Champions or falling short again?

At 21, Sancho is nowhere near his peak and looks to be a very shrewd acquisition. However, he will need time to adapt to the Premier League and even Solskjaer himself admitted in a recent interview that the Premier League is a step up from the Bundesliga.

However, with Sancho likely to line up alongside Cavani, Rashford and Fernandes, United have a frightening array of attacking options, possibly the best in the league.

Nevertheless, one thing which cost United last season was a lack of squad depth: though their first eleven is very strong, their squad is not. This was apparent in the Europa League final, where Maguire's absence arguably denied Solskjaer his first trophy as United boss.

Sancho's signing should at least deliver a trophy, but ultimately City's strong squad makes them favorites once again for the league.