By German football legend Lothar Matthaus has recalled when Jadon Sancho made him pause his workout for the first time in his life while representing England’s U17 team in May 2017. Shortly after the Manchester United winger caught Matthaus’ eye, he completed a transfer that seemingly sent him on the path to stardom.
Sancho featured alongside Marc Guehi, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi as he tormented the Norwegian side down the left flank, contributing to a 3-1 win at the U17 European Championship.
England went on to win the U17 Euros that year, and the 23-year-old was named the tournament’s best player.
Matthaus – World Cup and Ballon d’Or winner in 1990 – couldn’t help but stop his gym session and watch Sancho in awe of the potential he possessed.
“Five or six years ago, I was watching a European Championship U17 game. They [England] were playing against Norway,” Matthaus said.
“I was watching this game on Eurosport on the TV in the gym. I had this screen on when I was running, and I saw the game, and I knew nothing about it, just that this game was on.
“I saw on the left wing somebody from England, and after 15 minutes, I stopped running, something I’d never done before in my life because when I start something, I like to finish.”
Matthaus revealed he later asked a confidant about Sancho’s background before learning he was in Manchester City’s academy.
Soon after that, he completed an £8million switch to Borussia Dortmund, where he became one of Europe’s most exciting young forwards in the same bracket as Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr.
Matthaus added: “Then I called my friend, and I was telling him on the phone, ‘Hey, put on Eurosport, on the left side is a player, where is he from?’
“Half an hour later, he gave me the information that he was playing for Man City. I said, ‘When you get this player under contract, you will make millions’. Four months later, he was signed by Borussia Dortmund.”
