Neymar the main man for Sancho

JADON SANCHO is flying in the face of football opinion – by modelling himself on Neymar.

The England and Borussia Dortmund winger, 18, is gaining a reputation as one of Europe’s hottest stars after lighting up the Bundesliga.

And he has shown that – as well as boasting pace and skill – he is strong-minded and self-confident by insisting his modern-day hero is Neymar.

That might be an unpopular choice in some quarters – the Brazilian was ridiculed on social media in the summer after play-acting during the World Cup.

But Sancho (below) reckons the Paris Saint-Germain superstar is a player to look up to.

He said: “Growing up my favourite was Ronaldinho – he was such a great player and always played with a smile.

“Now it’s Neymar because he’s just different.

“He takes the mickey out of people, obviously it’s not good – but he’s just expressing himself and I love that.

“People are maybe not scared about doing what he does but they just wouldn’t do the things he’s doing.

“I just think when you are different you stand out more and I like it when people stand out because it’s an individuality that you just don’t see every day.”

But the teenager is grounded enough to know he still has lots of work to do to reach Neymar’s level.

He said: “My weakness is my left foot. I need to improve it.

“It’s difficult because now I’m playing at a high level I don’t want to lose the ball. But as I get more comfortable I’m trying to do it.”

Sancho continued his impressive form yesterday by scoring the clincher in Dortmund’s 2-1 Bundesliga win away to Schalke.