The winger has been given an unexpected second chance to make a go of his frustrating Red Devils career but must now play out of his comfort zone

When Jadon Sancho was at the height of his exile from Manchester United, training by himself, forced to eat lunch alone out of tupperware and playing EAFC while his team-mates were in Champions League action, it was impossible to imagine that less than a year later he would be back playing for the club.

It was even harder to envisage him not just still being a part of the squad, but starting the season as their central striker. But the player who called his manager a liar 11 months ago and then refused to apologise to him, even if it was his best route back into the team, is now the Red Devils' best option for the Community Shield against Manchester City.

United begin the new season just as they ended the last one, against City at Wembley, where they staged a stunning 2-1 victory in the FA Cup final and became the first team in almost six months to beat Pep Guardiola's side over 90 minutes. Their team feels weaker now than then, though, despite spending close to £90 million ($114m) on two new signings. And that is illustrated by the fact that Sancho is likely to be leading their attack.

Getty Sancho vs Haaland

At Wembley, City will be armed up front with Erling Haaland, who scored 36 goals in his first Premier League season and 28 in his second. He has warmed up for a third consecutive assault on the Golden Boot by having an extended summer break while his contemporaries were at the European Championship or Copa America.

And he has been scoring for fun in the pre-season tour of the United States, even plundering a hat-trick against Chelsea. United, by contrast, will be relying on a forward who has hardly any experience of playing up front and even less positive experience of the role.

This is not how Ten Hag planned it, of course. Rasmus Hojlund hurt his hamstring against Arsenal and new signing Joshua Zirkzee has barely trained with the team. The manager has also seemingly abandoned the idea of playing Marcus Rashford through the middle, which did not go well at the start of last season. Rashford's revival over pre-season has confirmed the notion that he is best deployed from the left of the attack.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesHasn't worked before

There remains a possibility that Ten Hag does what he did in the last two games against City, and play Bruno Fernandes as a false nine. But he has hinted it will be Sancho, who started there in the final two games of the ill-fated U.S. tour, in the 3-2 win over Real Betis and the 3-0 defeat by Liverpool. The latter was not a particulary good advert for him in the role, as he failed to get into many positive positions, and the wide forwards Rashford and Amad Diallo had much better games.

Ten Hag actually experimented with Sancho as a false nine on the previous U.S. tour, just weeks before their relationship exploded in full view of social media. He had scored against Arsenal in New Jersey, but that was as good as it got.

And when the season started properly, Sancho was on the bench, playing just a handful of minutes before being left out of the squad for the trip to Arsenal, when Ten Hag let it slip that he had not been training hard enough, and all hell broke loose.

Getty/GOALFragile relationship

Little has happened in between to suggest that Sancho is now better equipped for playing up front or that his rift with Ten Hag has properly healed. The coach was adamant last year that Sancho must publicly apologise for his verbal attack, and was so adamant that he preferred to send him on loan to Borussia Dortmund than back down.

A private chat seems to have been enough to bury the hatchet this time, but for how long? The pair's agreement to put their furious spat behind them feels more like a ceasefire than a permanent peace process, and Sancho playing out of position will put this fragile relationship to the test.

Sancho did revitalise his career on loan at Dortmund, but it was playing on the right of the attack, with a clear focal point in Niclas Fullkrug to chime with.

Getty ImagesReinvention is risky

He rediscovered his dribbling ability while playing back in Dortmund, having barely demonstrated it at United, either under Ten Hag or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Indeed, he only dribbled past a player seven times in 48 games with the Red Devils.

In one match for Dortmund against Paris Saint-Germain, he completed 12 dribbles, the most of any player in the Champions League since Lionel Messi in 2008. It feels like United should be trying to rediscover that version of Sancho, the thrusting, thrilling winger, rather than try to reinvent him in an unfamiliar position.

Sancho does not have the physique of Fullkrug or the power of Hojlund, and him playing as a traditional centre-forward is unlikely to cause City many problems. He stands a better chance as a false nine, although that still feels like it won't get the best out of him.

To be effective he will need to drop deeper into attacking midfield and pick out either Rashford, Amad or Alejandro Garnacho. Doing so runs the risk of him getting in the way of Fernandes or Mason Mount, who also has a point to prove after missing most of last season through injury.