At just 19 years old, the world is at the feet of Jadon Sancho. And with his touch and control, it’s a fairly safe place for it to be. The young Englishman has been enjoying some well-earned down time following his hugely successful debut season in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, during which time he made his international debut.
A Mercurial man in more ways than one, we caught up with the London-born winger at the recent launch event for Nike’s next-generation boot in Paris, where we spoke about his incredible year, cross-industry respect and admiration, and his friendships with Raheem Sterling and Reiss Nelson.
Jadon, how’s the summer been for you?
Yeah, it’s been alright. Just been chilling and relaxing. I’ve been to LA and I’ve just come back from Merky Fest in Ibiza. After that I just chilled with my family a bit and linked up with Raheem, and then we just went out to the sea and chilled out on a boat for a bit. I've got Wireless Festival too, I went yesterday, I was actually meant to go today too, but obviously I came here. And then I’m going tomorrow. That’ll be the last of the summer. That’ll be me finished in London, so I’ll be going back to Germany and back to the graft.
It’s good to chill with Raheem. He just gives me advice on what I should do and what I should not do, and it helps me a lot."
What’s it like linking up with someone like that, do you get advice?
It’s good, I like him and he’s obviously from London himself and I look up to him, so it’s good to chill with him. He just gives me advice on what I should do and what I should not do, and it helps me a lot.
How easy is it to take that advice on?
It’s nice, it’s nice getting it from Raheem, ‘coz he’s a great player. Everyone from London, especially playing football, looks up to him.
He’s had a mad twelve months too hasn't he?
It’s been unbelievable. His best season so far. The amount of things he’s achieved this season, it’s incredible.
Do you think it’s important – this is getting deep, but he’s obviously changed the media, he’s changed all sorts of stuff…
Yeah, because the media was on his back, and I remember some things that were said about him that just weren’t true and I’m so happy that he’s flipped it around and now everyone’s just backing off him because he’s such a great guy and so humble.
That’s important, to stay humble…
Yeah, if you’re not humble then you’re gonna get a lot of things going against you. You can’t be that person.
It’s vice versa with the rappers and the footballers. Footballers want to be the rappers and rappers want to be the footballers. It’s a good thing."
You’ve been to Merky festival, you’ve been to Wireless; how much does music come into your world?
Music is a big part of my life. Music just helps me vibe and it just makes me happy. When I’m out in the sun listening to music, it just makes me happy. Just relaxing.
You’ve met all kinds of people through football, it just opens doors…
That’s a good thing as well. You get more connections and you get to bond with other people that are just in different industries, like music, and other stuff like basketball and all these other things, so it’s a good way to just connect with other people and other cultures.
While you go through the motions and you meet all these sorts of people, do you ever still have that moment where you’re like “Jeez…”
Yeah it’s crazy ‘coz I’m still only 19 and this stuff usually happens when you’re 23/24, breaking through. I’m just grateful that I’ve got the chance at such a young age.
When you see those people that you’ve hung out with and then they go and perform on stage, is that like something where you have complete respect for them?
Yeah, it’s nice because you’ve seen them on YouTube and that, or you’ve just listened to their song, and then you see them in real life at the performance. It’s crazy. It’s a good feeling.
And when it comes down to it, they’ve got their stage to perform on and you’ve got the football pitch…
Yeah, we totally respect each other so they get excited, like “ah you’re that sick footballer,” and then I’m like “Bro, this is crazy what you’re doing, getting all the fans just jumping just listening to your music. I wish I had that.” That’s what I would say. And then they wish they played football, so it’s vice versa with the rappers and the footballers. Footballers want to be the rappers and rappers want to be the footballers. It’s a good thing.
Do you ever sort of get that moment when you’re on the pitch and you’ve done something particularly good and you think oh man…
You get a nice buzz, especially in Dortmund, because of how big the stadium is and how passionate they are.
When I left City, there was a lot of people that doubted me – they were like 'oh you shouldn’t have left Pep Guardiola' – but I just thought that it was the best thing for me. I still have love for Pep."
When you go to an event like this and you see so many people excited to see you, what goes through your head? Is that surreal or does that feel normal?
It’s getting to that stage where it’s starting to feel a bit more normal, but obviously inside I’m still like “woah, this is crazy, I don’t know how this is happening,” ‘coz I’m still the same age, I’m still 19, these people are older than me and they’re still excited to see me. It’s a great feeling to make people’s day.
It’s been a rapid few years for you and the last couple of years you’ve done so well for yourself. What's next?
So now it’s just all about maintaining it. People are waiting for me to pull up so they can say I'm a one hit wonder. I’ve just got to keep on top and hope that injuries don’t become involved, just keep grafting and keep doing well for the team, that’s the main thing.
Is that something that you thrive on, the pressure, and people waiting to write you off?
Not really. When I left City, there was a lot of people that doubted me – they were like “oh you shouldn’t have left Pep Guardiola” – but I just thought that it was the best thing for me. I still have love for Pep, I still love everyone at the club, because they took me from Watford and helped me develop into who I am today, and obviously going to Dortmund. They helped with a bigger step for me – making my debut. And now I’ve made my debut I’ve expressed myself and now I’m in the position where I am today. I’m just so grateful to everyone who’s been a part of my journey so far. Watford as well, started off life at Watford, so it’s been really good.
We interviewed Reiss Nelson recently and he said that what people don’t realise about you both is that you haven’t just moved to Germany together, you’re not just players, you’re like brothers, best mates…
Yeah, yeah, we’re brothers. We’ve come from the same area and the same background, so both of us can relate to each other. Just seeing each other progress just makes us each smile, especially because – I remember saying this when we were younger – we need to take our families out of our areas, because obviously they’re not really the areas you want to live in. Just go down the road and do other things. As you get older, you want to take your family away. You want to have kids and you want them to live a different life than what you did. It’s a nice feeling to take your family out of the area and making them smile and letting them live a different life, it’s perfect. It’s the best thing I could’ve ever done.
Photography by Jeremie Masuka and Pete Martin for SoccerBible.
