Chelsea star Jadon Sancho has just embarrassed Man United again after stunning new statement

65. The number of Manchester United games it took Jadon Sancho to reach five assists in all competitions. Seven. The number it has taken him to reach the same point at Chelsea.

If that comes across as unfair on United, who played Europa League and Champions League football with Sancho rather than Conference League, then consider his Premier League record instead. Across two full seasons at the club, he never got more than three assists in a single league campaign. At Chelsea he is already there.

In fact, it is three assists in six Premier League matches (just under 350 minutes, four starts) with the Stamford Bridge club. At Old Trafford, he got the assists in 26 and 29 appearances (58 overall with his final few games at the end of last term), from 20 and 21 starts, respectively and over 3,500 minutes combined.

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United could rightly suggest that Sancho's two assists for Chelsea on Thursday night away to Heidenheim were against considerably weaker opposition but even in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup he failed to deliver for them. The Europa League reading is no better, neither is the Champions League one.

It is a damning set of statistics. It also doesn't tell the whole story. What it does do, however, is paint a pretty accurate picture. Sancho is looking as lively for Chelsea as he ever did at United.

Even in his last Premier League start for the Blues - a relatively quiet game for the 24-year-old away to Liverpool in October - he could easily have won a penalty. That Enzo Maresca had the option to bring on a more suited paceman out wide in Pedro Neto is no slight on Sancho.

There are games he is a natural selection for and ones where he is not. Against a low-block at Bournemouth, he was the spark Chelsea needed, helped by an attacking full-back and midfield support. When Marc Cucurella was not stationed as high up two weeks later against Nottingham Forest, it was more of a struggle. At Anfield, he had Malo Gusto out-of-position behind him, something that certainly didn't make for a conducive and smooth approach on that side.

This is a blessing not a curse for Chelsea and has helped them get a good balance from Sancho rather than piling the load onto him, as was the case at United. Instead of all the attention being on a £72million addition - the final piece of the puzzle, as he was heralded widely - there is more a sense of Chelsea having another good squad option, utilising him in a different way.

The same was largely true of his time at Borussia Dortmund, where he spent more time back on his favoured left wing rather than the right, a position United wrongly identified as being his best. At Heidenheim, in a first start for over a month due to illness and rotation, it didn't make a difference.

Sancho was constantly a livewire for Chelsea alongside Christopher Nkunku drifting across the field behind Marc Guiu as a striker. The pair exchanged one-twos, dribbled Heidenheim in circles at points, and looked a class above the rest of the players. It was no surprise that Chelsea's first goal came from them linking up on the right, with Sancho going beyond his full-back and delivering a neat cutback.

He also set up Mykhailo Mudryk late on for the goal that sealed the points, once more driving down the line and causing issues via the simple threat of also being able to go inside, before finding another pass to a teammate on the edge of the box. Nominal centre-back Axel Disasi didn't offer much in terms of creativity or aid in the Heidenheim half, either, leaving much down to Sancho.

He still stood out for Chelsea, even without Cesare Casadei able to get around him for more options on the ball. This is maybe to be expected given Chelsea are the strongest and wealthiest club to have played in this competition ever (and by some distance), but it was still encouraging for Sancho. He could easily have let this opportunity to stake a claim for the first-team go by.

As Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez have shown, though, there is genuine competition in the squad in certain areas if players are willing to take it. Sancho may not get the chance from the start against Aston Villa on Sunday to make the most of his impressive return, especially as Unai Emery's side leave space that Neto is more likely to exploit, but it doesn't reduce his effectiveness or negatively impact the new lease of life at Chelsea.

By bringing him in and out of the team more fluidly with a bigger group of players, Chelsea appear to be finding a new way to make the most of Sancho. It is something United never managed.