Graeme Souness admits he is ‘not convinced’ by Chelsea summer signing Jadon Sancho.
Sancho’s miserable three-year spell at Manchester United came to an end last summer when he joined Chelsea on a season-long loan.
The deal includes an obligation for Chelsea to sign the 24-year-old permanently for between £20-25m next summer.
Sancho cost United £73m in 2021 and the Red Devils had high hopes for a player who thrived at Borussia Dortmund and had begun to feature regularly for England.
But the winger’s decline was such that he was loaned back to Dortmund last season following a public spat with Old Trafford boss Erik ten Hag.
Sancho has shown glimpses of his potential at Manchester United’s rivals Chelsea but is yet to open his account for his new club in five appearances.
He started for the Blues in their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last weekend but was subbed off by Enzo Maresca at half-time.
It was suggested to Souness that Sancho was removed after being ‘seen off’ by Trent Alexander-Arnold but the pundit believes that would be giving the Anfield star too much credit.
‘When Arne Slot first took over, I couldn’t see any difference in the way Liverpool were playing,’ Souness said on the Three Up Front podcast with William Hill.
‘Now I think they seem to drop off a bit more and they might be a bit more patient in the build-up. But have they convinced me yet? No. I look at Arsenal and Manchester City and think, right now, they’re both still ahead of Liverpool.
‘Slot has made a fantastic start and I think his management will be enjoyed by the players. But we must remember that they’re winning games at the moment.
‘His problems will start when they start to lose a few games and I guarantee that, sooner rather than later, you will see a very different Arne Slot.
‘He closed out the game against Chelsea and it was less exciting, which is not the Liverpool way.
‘But as long as you’re winning while you do that, you’ll get plaudits. When you don’t win, that’s when people start saying “that’s not the Liverpool way”, and all the other clichés will be trotted out.
‘The way they play is not as Rock and Roll as it was under Jurgen Klopp. When you look back through the history of Liverpool, the fans want to see their team on the front foot.
‘He takes off Trent Alexander-Arnold and puts a better defender on in [Joe] Gomez.’
Journalist Henry Winter then said: ‘It worked. Gomez was good. Trent Alexander-Arnold had already seen off…’
But before Winter was able to mention Sancho, Souness interjected and said: ‘Trent hadn’t seen off the little winger from Dortmund… He sees himself off. I’m not convinced about Sancho.’
While Souness has doubts over Sancho’s ability at the top level, his current manager Maresca described him as a ‘special’ talent last week.
‘Jadon is doing well,’ Maresca said at a press conference before taking his Chelsea team to Anfield. ‘He needs to continue in the same way; work hard, every day.
‘As I’ve said before, for sure he is going to help us. We really believe that he is a special player.
‘But the only way for him to confirm that is by working hard every day and never be happy and always be ambitious. He needs to want more and more and more.’
Chelsea thumped Panathinaikos 4-1 in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night but Sancho was an unused substitute in Greece.
The Blues return to Premier League action on Sunday against Newcastle United, who have gone four games without a win under Eddie Howe.