Jadon Sancho is “honoured” to have joined Manchester United and insists he is ready to take a bigger step and help bring trophies back to Old Trafford.
The 21-year-old England international – a former Manchester City youth-team player – has signed a five-year contract, with the option of a further year, after a £73-million deal was previously agreed with Borussia Dortmund.
United’s last trophy came in the Europa League in 2017, while their last domestic title success was eight years ago in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season as manager.
Sancho hopes to be able to change that having finally completed his move to Old Trafford.
“It’s an honour,” the youngster, who cites United’s all-time leading goalscorer Wayne Rooney as an early influence on his career, told manutd.com.
“Growing up, Manchester United was one of the biggest clubs that everyone knows, and of course there is also all the trophies they’ve won.
“That’s one of the reasons why I came to Manchester, because I can see the development that’s going on here and I want to be a part of it, especially because it’s such an iconic club and being part of it is kind of a dream come true.”
Sancho believes his four years in Germany, also playing in the Champions League, has helped his development which will stand him in good stead for what comes next.
“It helped me grow as a player and I had the experience of playing in the Champions League and getting the feel of big games,” he added.
“I feel like I did well in those big games and now I’m ready for a new challenge and a bigger step.
“[I’m] eager to win and determined to get trophies. Goals and assists and a bit of skills here and there.
“I can’t wait to get started and obviously want to bring trophies to where they belong.”
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finally got his man 12 months after first registering his interest, with United initially put off by the Bundesliga club insisting on a £100m fee.
Now he hopes to be able to develop Sancho’s “untapped talent” having brought in a player with the right DNA.
“We’ve followed him for a long time and decided to go for him and finally we made the breakthrough and got the deal done,” he said.
“We think his qualities will fit right in here at Man United. There is some untapped talent there I am sure, and coming into this environment will help him improve as well.
“Jadon is a signing that we expect to stay at Man United for many, many years, so it’s also that part of it that we have a young, up-and-coming forward line.
“He’s got that DNA of exciting fans and entertaining and he’s also a winner. He wants to win and that’s the next step for us.
“We need to take the next step, we want to take the next step and we feel that he can help us do that.
“It’s Man United and we know that our fans want us to go one step further than we did last season, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”