Erik ten Hag: Uncertain Whether Jadon Sancho Will Make Future Appearances for Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United manager, finds himself uncertain about Jadon Sancho’s future with the club.
Sancho, a 23-year-old winger, is currently training apart from the first-team squad. This situation arose after he expressed feeling like a “scapegoat” following his exclusion from the squad for the match against Arsenal on September 3rd.
At the time, Ten Hag explained that Sancho’s omission was due to subpar training performances. When asked about the possibility of Sancho playing for the club again, Ten Hag responded, “I don’t know.”
Sancho had initially made this comment in a social media post, which he later deleted.
Ten Hag continued, “Tomorrow we have a significant game against Brighton, and we’re entering a busy stretch of fixtures with many games in a condensed schedule. My focus is on that. As he is currently unavailable, he is not a priority because he cannot contribute.”
Manchester United has had a mixed start to the Premier League season, winning home games against Wolves and Nottingham Forest but losing away matches to Tottenham and Arsenal.
Last season, Ten Hag demonstrated his willingness to make substantial decisions for the benefit of the team, including benching Cristiano Ronaldo after he refused to come on as a substitute in a match against Tottenham in October 2022. Similar to Sancho, Ronaldo was also isolated from the squad for a period. While Ronaldo did eventually return to the first team, he departed the club in November of that year after giving a contentious interview in which he criticized Manchester United.
Ten Hag emphasized on Friday that the team’s success takes precedence over any individual player, stating, “This isn’t about me being strict; it’s about what benefits the team. I don’t dwell on [Sancho’s social media post] or discuss it because my primary focus is winning matches. I am fully concentrated on preparing and guiding the available players. My attention is solely on those who are ready and able to contribute.”