Jadon Sancho will bounce back from his current dip in form, says Borussia Dortmund player director Sebastian Kehl, with the England international experiencing a mere "temporary phenomenon" in regards to his game that is unrelated to Manchester United's transfer pursuit.
Following a high-flying 2019-20 campaign that saw him round out the top three scorers in the Bundesliga with 17 goals to his name, the winger has failed to find the net in six league appearances so far this term.
The winger was on the scoresheet against the Republic of Ireland for the Three Lions last week, but his third international goal has still been unable to hide a subpar start in line with expectations for the 20-year-old in certain quarters.
Former Germany star Kehl, who has helped oversee Sancho's development at the club, believes that the player is simply enduring a brief blip, while playing down suggestions that his performances have been affected by a protracted saga involving a failed move to United over the off-season.
"Jadon is perhaps lacking a little fluency right now," Kehl expanded upon to Kicker. "His natural game is only partially recognizable at the moment.
"But this is only a temporary phenomenon, one that will soon vanish into thin air. It is not a distraction brought on by United's interest.
"We will have to go through this together. Jadon doesn't care [about speculation]. We know that he is working on it."
Sancho spent the final part of his youth career at United's rivals Manchester City following a switch from Watford, but made the move to Dortmund in 2017 after he was unable to receive assurances of regular playing time under Pep Guardiola.
He has since flourished in Germany, fast emerging as one of the most exciting young talents at a club that prides itself on their youthful starlets, striking up an impressive partnership with fellow attacker Erling Haaland following the latter's arrival in January.
Having previously started both of England's UEFA Nations League ties in September, Sancho's subsequent form has seen him kept out of the first-choice XI across the rest of the Three Lions' Group A3 fixtures, notching merely 52 minutes off the bench in four games.