Can English players succeed abroad?
With the recent success of Jadon Sancho moving to Germany and playing in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund , he laid out a blueprint for young English players to move out their comfort zone and search for first team football if they are not given opportunities at their current club in England.
Jadon Sancho came up through the youth system of Manchester City and was omitted from the pre-season tour due to a dispute over signing a new contract and to not being given assurances on his playing time.
On the August 31, 2017 for a fee in the region of £8M it was reported he made the move to Dortmund, and subsequently was also involved in the first team squad. Sancho made significant progress since signing with the German team. He scored his first professional goal on the April 21, 2018 and assisting 2 other goals in the same match ending 4-0 , having a hand in 3 out of the 4 goals.
His performances improved with each game he played. Jadon is already up there with the highest assists across Europe this current season. His performances have not gone unnoticed by England Manager , Gareth Southgate who included him in his preparation for the Uefa Nations League match against Croatia and Spain. He eventually got his cap in a cameo against Croatia , coming on in the 78th minute.
Jadon started the game last week against USA in a friendly and got the assist for the second goal, setting up with a clever through ball on to the oncoming Trent-Alexander Arnold who drove the ball into the corner. Jason's progression abroad has made the idea of young English players going abroad more viable.
Reiss Nelson is another example of an English youngster going out on loan to another competitive league to gain first team experience and prosper. Reiss signed a long term contract with Arsenal on August 31, 2018 before moving to German club Hoffenheim on loan. He made his debut on September 15, 2018 coming on in the 72nd minute. Within entering the field of play he scored in what happened to be a consolation goal as Hoffenheim lost 2-1.
Ex-professional Paul Ince came out and explained how hard it was for players in his generation to move abroad. He elaborated all of this on BT Sports as a pundit. European countries at the time did not understand English as well as today, he had to learn the new language as well as getting adapted to life away from his family.
In the modern day English has become a second language to European countries, also these new young players have technology to help them if they do not comprehend something.