Unai Emery was interested in signing Jadon Sancho permanently a few months ago and dangled the prospect in front of the Manchester United loanee. After an underwhelming first half of the season, it wasn't until Sancho came off the bench against Chelsea that he really began to show glimpses of his quality. Of course, it was the level he displayed at Borussia Dortmund that tempted Manchester United into a £73 million move in the summer of 2021. However, he has rarely reproduced that form in the Premier League.
At Stamford Bridge in December, Sancho helped turn the game on its head for Villa alongside Ollie Watkins in the final 20 minutes, with the latter scoring twice to seal a 2-1 victory. A few weeks later, Sancho scored his first goal for the club - a header against Fenerbahce in Turkey - which boosted Villa's chances of finishing in the top two of the Europa League league phase. That goal, however, proved to be his only one under Emery across 39 appearances in all competitions. Simply put, it was nowhere near good enough from Sancho, who was given plenty of opportunities to build momentum.
Before the March international break, he arguably delivered his most complete performance for Villa against West Ham, following impressive displays against Lille, and contributed an assist in a crucial 2-0 win over the Hammers. Villa had been struggling, going four league games without a win and losing the previous three before that victory. However, Sancho's confidence soon took a hit when he suffered a shoulder injury against Elche during a warm-weather training camp in Spain. He went on to start just one of Villa's final 12 matches across the Premier League and Europa League, which came against Tottenham - a game in which Emery made wholesale changes to manage a congested fixture schedule.
After recording his first league goal involvement - assisting Morgan Rogers' opener against Bournemouth - Emery was asked about the possibility of signing Sancho on a permanent basis once the season ended, particularly with the player set to become a free agent. "The first part of the season was not enough - he was working and trying, but not achieving the performance we needed," Emery admitted. "Now he is getting better. He is getting the challenge for him and us. I spoke with him a few times about the challenge we have with him and that he has with us. He must be demanding of himself and consistent like he is now. But [we want] more and more. It is not the time to wait. We need everyone with their wishes and qualities. We believe in him at the start of the season, December and now."
Emery added: "Hopefully he can help us by increasing his qualities in our structure like he is doing. He will need another contract, and maybe it could be here. If he plays his best football, we will want him." Sancho, however, peaked in March and ultimately did not do enough to justify Villa offering him a lucrative contract - or even a salary in line with the squad's mid-range earners.
Ahead of the final match of the campaign against Man City, Unai Emery suggested he would look elsewhere rather than pursue permanent deals for either Sancho or Douglas Luiz. "We are ambitious and everything we did is important to how we can analyse how to get better next year. I only want to improve and get better next year. The decisions we take will be in this direction." Signing Jadon Sancho would not represent an improvement, so Villa are right to move on after giving him a perfect opportunity to revive his career - much like Marcus Rashford did during the second half of the previous campaign.
