Ralf Rangnick has hailed the performances of Manchester United duo Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga over the past month but has challenged them to get even better.
After initially struggling to adapt to the Premier League following his summer move from Borussia Dortmund, Sancho has begun to look like the player United were so desperate to sign since the winter break. The winger has been much more dangerous on the flanks of late and was named the fans' player of the month for February.
The two goals and two assists Sancho registered last month were a big increase in his numbers from the rest of the campaign but Rangnick has now laid down the gauntlet for him to start contributing even more. “I knew him since he was 17, when he flew with the English Under-17 team to Portugal," the interim boss told United's website.
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"I watched him together with [Callum] Hudson-Odoi playing in the same team when I was with Leipzig. Then he decided not to join us at Leipzig but to go to Borussia Dortmund. He had four outstanding years there and became one of the best players in the Bundesliga.
"It took him some time to get used to this different league and a different, more physical kind of football. The Jadon Sancho that we’ve seen recently in the last eight weeks is getting closer to the one I knew from Germany.
"There is still more space for improvement for him. He could even get better: scoring more goals, being more influential on our game. I think he’s on the right pathway right now.”
Sancho narrowly edged out Elanga for the United monthly award, with the young Swede enjoying a breakout month as he bounced back from his penalty miss in the shoot-out defeat to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. Since then he has scored against Leeds as well as grabbed a crucial equaliser against Atletico Madrid. And Rangnick sees no reason why he can't continue to develop.
“Yes, he’s a fantastic person, a great character," Rangnick added when asked about the teenager's character following the miss. "Again, he’s also a player with talent, some weapons but he’s not a finished product.
"He knows that and that’s the good thing about it: he knows he can get better and has to develop as a player but I don’t see why this shouldn’t happen. If I look at the way he’s developed in the last three months since I came here, I don’t see why this, all of a sudden, should stop.”
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