What’s eating Jadon Sancho?

An adolescent Jadon Sancho lived on just one dream. It was to take his family out of stuffed lanes of Guinness Trust Buildings estate, a largely Caribbean settlement in South London’s Kennington, a stone’s throw away from the Kia Oval, the hallowed cricket ground, which also hosted England’s first international football fixture. It’s a dream thousands dream of, prosperity and fame, an escape from the grim realities of the rough neighborhood, where he often woke up to gunshots and brawls. But only a few achieve it, though the frequency of skilled footballers emerging from the region is increasing from the crumbling estates. “A few chosen ones,” once remarked his father Sean, who worked as a security guard.

His son though would disagree. It was not a stroke of destiny, even though he was fortunate enough to get his footballing skills noticed by his class teacher, but the fruits of his labour. “It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to work for this,” he told bundesliga.com during his coming-of-age days with Borussia Dortmund. He grew up playing in cages, parking lots and parks, in tiny congested spaces, with children older than him, those that bullied and battered him. So crowded were the playing that one mistake would see him pushed out, whereupon he had to wait for hours for another chance. You know where he got those nimble feet, delightful ball control and quick thinking. Many of them in adolescence smoked marijuana, and consumed cheap recreational drugs.

But amidst the irresistible chaos, Sancho’s dream remained unscathed. At just seven, he joined Watford, two hours and three tubes away from his apartment. At 12, he shifted to the digs near the ground. “All that mattered was training, training and training. I would sleep on