Dwight Yorke has claimed Manchester United did not need to sign Jadon Sancho due to the emergence of Mason Greenwood at the time.

Sancho joined from Borussia Dortmund in a big-money move in the last transfer window, though the winger’s arrival was somewhat overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s sensational return to Old Trafford.

The 21-year-old has struggled for form since the transfer and was dropped by England after disappointing in his initial showings for United.

However, Sancho – who has accumulated 744 minutes across all competitions for his new club – finally found the net against Villarreal on Tuesday after previously going 14 appearances and 10 shots without finding the net.

His Champions League strike was his first goal for the club, having failed to score before United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer parted ways with the Red Devils sat eighth in the league.

But Yorke expressed his confusion as to why United signed Sancho when they have Greenwood, who stormed onto the scene in 2019-20 before he became only the second teenager to find the net in the opening three matches of a Premier League season this term.

“I think people forget these are young men that come in with huge expectations,” Yorke, who finished as United’s top league goal scorer in 1998-99, told Stats Perform.

“He hasn’t had the best of campaigns with England. We’ve seen that missed penalty, that can have a knock-on effect as well. All those little things, things that young players have to deal with.

“I am a fan; I just probably think it would have been a little bit too early for us to bring him in.

“I think we didn’t need Sancho at the point in time with the emergence of Greenwood. I just think that was a position that we didn’t really need to go for.”

United are reportedly edging closer to appointing Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis, with a permanent solution set to be found at the end of the season.

The 63-year-old will no doubt know about Sancho, who is the only player from Europe’s top five leagues to have scored 10 goals or more and had at least 15 assists across all competitions in each of the previous three seasons.

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Despite questioning whether his arrival was necessary, Yorke added how exciting Sancho’s potential can be for United, who travel to Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.

“However, you still cannot underestimate the talent the boy does possess,” he continued.

“He’s definitely one for the future. Again, we have an English product and we want to make sure that we continue to pick up the English players.

“But sometimes that can get a little bit overwhelming at times and people get ahead of themselves a little bit. But there’s no question in my mind that he’s a very talented young man and will be a great asset to the football club going forward.”