Manchester United "missed the boat" by not signing Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, according to Carlton Palmer.

The former England international, speaking exclusively to Football FanCast correspondent Tom Ward, has praised the 20-year-old's performances for club and country since he first arrived at Borussia Dortmund.

As revealed by The Athletic back in October, the Red Devils were embroiled in a hopeless pursuit of Sancho over the summer, as Dortmund refused to budge on their £108m valuation.

The London-born right winger has become an integral part of the Bundesliga giants since his move to Germany, whilst he was also selected as part of the front three for England to face the Republic of Ireland during an international friendly last month.

Palmer was effusive in his praise for Sancho and suggested United could have done with signing a speed demon like him in the summer. However, he also added a note of caution, as he questioned whether he would have been given enough game time to merit such a move.

He told FFC:

"They've missed the boat with Sancho, he's a top player.

"But I mean, where were they going to play him? They've signed Donny van de Beek and he's only played a handful of games since they signed him for big money - what was it, £40m, £50m?

"You don't want to just sign players for the sake of signing players. You've got to sign the right players."

As Palmer rightly pointed out, it's worth remembering that although summer signing Donny van de Beek has played eight games in the Premier League so far this season; the majority of these appearances have come as a substitute from the bench.

Whether or not Sancho would have suffered the same fate is certainly up for debate, as Mason Greenwood sent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a timely reminder of his obvious talents with a fine finish during the 3-1 win over West Ham at the London Stadium last night.

Sancho has bagged 30 goals and 41 assists in 86 Bundesliga games with Dortmund, whilst he has netted three times in 18 caps for his country, which is an impressive return.

Valued at €150m (£135m) via the CIES Football Observatory, in four appearances in the Champions League this season, the versatile midfielder has scored twice and supplied an assist, whilst he is averaging 1.5 shots, 2.8 key passes and 2.5 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

Whilst some may point towards the emergence of Greenwood on the right wing over the past year or so as he found himself on the scoresheet against West Ham, there's no doubt that Sancho would have been welcomed with open arms by Solskjaer at Old Trafford, who made him his top priority in the summer, but to no avail.

AND in other news, Forget Rashford: Paul Pogba steals the show as Manchester United fight back to beat West Ham...