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Jadon Sancho looks primed to finally deliver on the potential Kylian Mbappe always believed he had.

Sancho is set for the biggest game of his career when Borussia Dortmund host Paris Saint-Germain this week, live on talkSPORT.

Sancho is now the top scoring Englishman in Bundesliga history
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Sancho is now the top scoring Englishman in Bundesliga historyCredit: Getty

The England star has slowly rebuilt his reputation back in Germany after being frozen out by Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

Ten Hag banished Sancho after a dressing room spat, leading to an acrimonious exit in January with Dortmund picking him up on loan until the end of the season.

Ironically, Sancho is now just two games away from becoming the first player contracted to Man United to reach the Champions League final since 2011 while his parent club look set to miss out on qualifying for Europe's elite next season.

However, to do so the winger will need to show the kind of form that saw Mbappe mark him as one to watch when they first met four years ago.

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During a Champions League last-16 showdown in February 2020, Sancho and Erling Haaland inspired Dortmund to a memorable 2-1 win over PSG.

The outbreak of COVID-19 across Europe prevented fans from being in attendance for the return leg and PSG ran out 2-0 winners to advance on aggregate.

However, while the rest of his side celebrated, Mbappe made a beeline to swap shirts with Sancho and encourage him.

"I spoke to him after the game," Sancho told SoccerBible months later.

Sancho and Mbappe were both among Europe's brightest young talents when they first shared a pitch
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Sancho and Mbappe were both among Europe's brightest young talents when they first shared a pitchCredit: Getty

"We had a little conversation after the game, he said to me “you’re doing really well, keep it up and you’ll get far”.

"It was nice to have that conversation with him."

Sancho continued following the right path and completed his £73million move to Old Trafford just over a year later.

The-then 21-year-old was in the England set-up at the time but only managed a bit-part role in the squad that reached the Euro 2020 final.

Sancho was man-of-the-match for Dortmund in the Champions League clash against PSV
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Sancho was man-of-the-match for Dortmund in the Champions League clash against PSVCredit: Getty

His tournament ended in agony after missing a penalty in the Three Lions' shootout defeat to Italy and the last of his 23 caps to date came just months later in October 2021.

Despite his struggles at United, Mbappe has still been casting a watchful eye on his progress.

The 2018 World Cup winner sent Sancho a heartfelt message saying, 'Good to see you with a smile', following the club's Carabao Cup triumph in February 2023.

A year on and Sancho's smile is much more fixed having scored Dortmund's only goal in their 4-1 defeat to RB Leipzig on Saturday.

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He also bagged the opener in the last-16 second leg with PSV to help Dortmund to this stage.

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Mbappe will be hoping he's not smiling after they reunite in Europe, with this being his final opportunity to win the Champions League with PSG before he exits this summer.

However, Mbappe also couldn't be too surprised if he is - after all, he was the one predicting him to go far...

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