Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund's exemplary NxGn superstar encouraging others to follow his lead

There are few players in world football who would turn their back on the chance to play under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, but Jadon Sancho is not your run-of-the-mill footballer.

After becoming frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities on offer at the Etihad, Sancho took the bold step of moving to Borussia Dortmund and, after having to bide his time under Peter Bosz and Peter Stoger, the 18-year-old has shaken up the Bundesliga.

Indeed, he has helped BVB surge to the summit of Germany's top-flight league and left Gareth Southgate with no choice but to bring him into the senior England set-up.

His decision to move to Dortmund proved a testament of his strength of character, which was highlighted most recently by his match-winning performance in the Revierderby just a few days after the passing of his grandmother.

His decisive strike against Schalke brought his goal involvements for the season up to 14 - he now has as many league assists as Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil combined.

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His success at the Westfalenstadion has led to other young English stars broadening their horizons in Germany - Ademola Lookman and Reiss Nelson have both flourished with RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim respectively - and Sancho is hoping more of his up-and-coming compatriots will soon follow his lead.

“I think I can be a role model to people growing up," Sancho said. "OK, I'm only 18 but age is just a number. If you're good enough, why not? In England especially, footballers don't leave the country until they are at least 22.

“I would say to anyone, 'Don't be afraid to follow me and make a move like this.' You are here for one reason and that's to make it as a footballer.

"So when they come along you have to take your chances, otherwise you can't succeed. You can't be your best if you don't take chances."

A risk-taker off the pitch, Sancho has averaged two completed dribbles and 1.7 key passes per game this season, along with a passing accuracy of 85%. His impactful nature on the pitch has seen his value skyrocket by an astronomical 806% in just the last three months, going from £8.77 million to £79.44m, according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Sancho has taken great strides during 2018, and there seems to be no limits on his boundless potential; Dortmund boss Lucien Favre is fully expecting his coveted attacker to reach higher levels as his career progresses.

"Of course he has a lot of potential. He's only 18, and he's already playing with the England national team," Favre said. "At the age of 18, that's something special, you don't see it very often. 

"Of course he can still improve a lot, that's quite normal and he knows that. But he's already very good. He knows that he still has to improve. He just has to keep working hard, keep working calmly, and needs to have a lot of fun."

If Sancho has half as much fun on the pitch as Dortmund fans have watching him, 2019 could be the year the Southwark-born entertainer establishes himself among the elite circle of footballing superstars.