Sancho keeping cool amid Manchester United links
Jadon Sancho vowed he would not let his attention wander during England's Euro 2020 campaign as Manchester United target the Borussia Dortmund winger.
The 21-year-old cemented his status as one of Europe's most promising young players with another fine season at Dortmund in the season just ended.
He provided eight goals and 11 assists in 26 Bundesliga games, and was the division's fifth most successful chance creator, carving out 67 opportunities - remarkable numbers for a player still aged just 21.
That has led to United, who failed in their attempts to sign Sancho in the summer of 2020, reportedly reigniting their interest. The BBC said United had failed with a £67million bid and may consider going back with a further offer.
With Dortmund reported to have lowered its asking price to around £80million, expectations have grown that a deal will be struck.
However, Sancho is paying the transfer talk little attention as he prepares to feature for his country at the European Championship.
"I'm cool about it," Sancho said. "There's always going to be speculation, especially when you do well.
"It's just how you handle that on the pitch. You've got to keep doing what you're doing; if you keep on doing that, then I'm sure that won't be a problem.
"The main thing is my football and that's what I'm focusing on at the moment."
United appear to be the clear frontrunners for Sancho, who left their local rivals Manchester City four years ago in search of first-team opportunities in Germany.
But, when asked which players he had admired growing up, Sancho revealed his childhood affiliation was actually with a different Premier League club entirely.
"I was a Chelsea fan growing up, I can't lie!" Sancho said. "Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard were my favourite players at the time."
As well as leaving a big mark on the Bundesliga last term, Sancho also top-scored in the DFB-Pokal with six goals to help Dortmund lift the trophy.
His two-goal showing in a 4-1 victory over RB Leipzig in the final came shortly after a near two-month lay-off that was caused by a muscle injury.
Dortmund soared up the Bundesliga with Sancho back in action, finishing third after at one point looking set to miss the Champions League places.
Sancho was understandably delighted to finish the season on such a high on both a personal and collective level ahead of a big summer.
He said: "I came back even stronger, getting us through. I think we were about sixth or seventh in the league and we needed to make Champions League qualification.
"So we had targets, especially to win the Pokal, I'm happy that I came back and lifted the team with some motivation and some goals and assists."
