Jadon Sancho had a record-breaking night for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to send a reminder of his ability to parent club Manchester United.
Rio Ferdinand was left in awe of the winger as he helped his team record a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their semi-final.
Sancho rejoined Dortmund on loan in January after being frozen out by Erik ten Hag after falling out with the United boss.
Ten Hag publicly called out the 24-year-old following a 3-1 loss at Arsenal last September, saying he hadn't shown the right application in training.
Jadon Sancho sent a timely reminder to Man Utd and Erik ten Hag
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Sancho hit back on social media in a now-deleted post and was ousted from the first team at Old Trafford.
He wouldn't apologise and Ten Hag was keen to offload the England international as early as possible.
He enjoyed a hugely successful spell at Dortmund at the beginning of his career and it seemed the right place for him to reignite his undoubted talent.
Sancho unsurprisingly started slowly in his second incarnation at Signal Iduna Park after spending months in the wilderness.
But he was back to his best for Wednesday's first leg and led Edin Terzic's team to a narrow win.
According to Opta, Sancho's 12 dribbles were the most completed by an English player in a Champions League match since records began in 2003/04.
It was also the most dribbles completed by any player in a semi-final since the great Lionel Messi for Barcelona in 2008.
Ferdinand was on punditry duty for TNT Sports and described Sancho's performance as a 'joke'.
He said: "He's just putting people on the floor. He's making people dance.
"But it was, it was a joke, what he'd done today, and we haven't seen this probably since he was at Dortmund [for the first time]."
Ferdinand questions why it didn't work out at United following his £73million move in 2021.
He added: "I want to know what happened at Man United. Why didn't it go well there?
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Jadon Sancho put on a fine display for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League
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"Is it game time or did he not apply himself properly at Manchester United? Was he disheartened because he wasn't getting game time?
"Was it the size of the club, the weight of the shirt? Is it the club? Is it the manager's fault for not getting the best out of him?"
Owen Hargreaves believes there were multiple reasons why it didn't work for Sancho at United.
The ex-England international believes he is now back to his exciting best.
Jadon Sancho took in the applause from the crowd as Borussia Dortmund beat PSG
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Hargreaves said: "It's everything in there, it's all of those things. It's environment.
"[Tonight] I knew from the first touch he was going to have a game like that, because he had a bit of swagger, didn't he?
"And that's, I think that's when Jadon's at his best, he has a bit of swagger. At United, he went safe and played back to the fullback, didn't he?"
