Jadon Sancho is facing a battle to regain the support of his Manchester United teammates as well as manager Erik ten Hag following his angry reaction to being dropped for the Premier League defeat at Arsenal, a source has told ESPN.
Sancho, 23, posted a strongly worded social media rebuttal of Ten Hag’s postmatch claims that he had been omitted from the squad at the Emirates due to unsatisfactory training performances, with the England international rejecting the “completely untrue” comments and saying on his X account that he had been a “scapegoat for a long time.”
But one source has told ESPN that there is little sympathy for Sancho inside the United dressing room, saying, “The players have had enough of him.”
Sancho’s performances in training and on matchday, as well as his demeanour around the club, have led to the £73 million ($91m) signing from Borussia Dortmund becoming a peripheral figure with Ten Hag and his coaching staff becoming exasperated by the former Manchester City youngster.
Jadon Sancho has struggled to hold down a first-team spot at Manchester United. Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
Despite Sancho’s swift reaction to Ten Hag’s comments in the postmatch news conference at Arsenal — Sancho has not deleted his post and it remains pinned at the top of his X account — sources have said that the United manager has felt no need to clarify or tone down his remarks.
Ten Hag criticised Cristiano Ronaldo on two occasions for his conduct prior to the forward’s departure following a mutually agreed contract cancellation last November, while the former Ajax coach also publicly confirmed that Marcus Rashford was dropped for last season’s Premier League game at Wolves due to him missing a team meeting.
Sources have said that the players accept and respect Ten Hag’s firm approach because it applies without exceptions to squad members, regardless of their status, and that Sancho’s reaction has gone down badly within the dressing room, although a source has said that it was not greeted with surprise.
Sources have told ESPN that Sancho and Ten Hag are set for talks before United’s game against Brighton on Sept. 16 to decide the forward’s future.
United, according to sources, held preliminary talks with Al Ettifaq FC — managed by Steven Gerrard — about a possible loan on Thursday but a deal was never close before the Saudi Pro League transfer window closed.
It leaves Ten Hag with a decision to make about whether Sancho will be part of the squad for the first half of the season.
Since signing for United on a five-year contract in the summer of 2021, Sancho has scored 12 goals in 82 first-team appearances and registered six assists. In his final season with Borussia Dortmund, he scored 16 goals and provided 20 assists in 38 games in all competitions.