Jadon Sancho wasted no time before making a mark on his full debut after assisting Chelsea’s opening goal against West Ham United inside four minutes of their match at the London Stadium.
Sancho, 24, played a quick one-two with Nicolas Jackson inside his half to set the striker away down the left flank. While the Senegal international did much of the work, the pass meant Sancho was momentarily averaging an assist every 25 minutes in a Chelsea shirt.
His first came on debut at Bournemouth after coming off the bench at half-time last weekend to set up fellow substitute Christopher Nkunku for a late winner. On that occasion, Sancho’s impact was a bit more meaningful.
After receiving the ball on the left, he squared up Julian Araujo before firing an incisive pass into the feet of Nkunku inside the penalty area. That is now as many assists as Sancho managed in 24 matches across all competitions for Borussia Dortmund last season.
Sancho also already has more Premier League assists than any Manchester United player so far this season. Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, Amad, Alejandro Garnacho and Noussair Mazraoui all have one assist each so far this campaign – although Chelsea have now played one match more than United ahead of their encounter with Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
The winger only set up six goals during his whole United career, which will conclude this summer when Chelsea are obligated to buy the winger for between £20m and £25m. However, his creativity was clear at Dortmund, assisting 58 goals in four seasons ahead of signing for Manchester United.
In the latter of those two campaigns, Sancho set up 19 goals in each, and 16 in the previous years across all competitions. He is currently on course to hit those heights if this start to life for the Blues continues.
After his debut, in a post-match interview that ended with him being awarded the man of the match honour, Sancho said: “It’s amazing to make my debut for Chelsea, just being back playing, I’m very grateful.” He also added: “I’ve been working hard for this moment, and I’m just happy that I got my chance.”