Jadon Sancho, a winger for Manchester United, is expected to hold another round of negotiations with the team in an effort to resolve his ongoing dispute with Erik ten Hag. However, club officials are reportedly not happy with the player’s refusal to accept a transfer away from Old Trafford last week.
The winger and his boss are now at odds as a result of the argument that started when he was recently left off the team that lost 3-1 against Arsenal. Ten Hag said that Sancho had not lived up to expectations in the lead-up to the game and throughout Carrington training, which is why he had been benched.
And that claim provoked an angry response from the player, who suggested he was being scapegoated by Ten Hag and urging his followers on X to not believe everything you read. As a consequence, Ten Hag has been left far from impressed at seeing his authority questioned with some observers claiming Sancho is unlikely to play for United again as a result.
With his future clinging by a thread, Sancho and United were presented with a rapid solution to the problem last week when Al-Ettifaq made an approach to sign him. Ultimately, however, the move to Saudi Arabia broke down with Sancho and United this week holding talks to try and iron out their differences.
However, with the two men still having differences of opinion, it’s been claimed that United have cleared Sancho to leave the club in January. To that end, Tuesday’s Euro Paper Talk outlined three possible destinations for the unwanted Man Utd winger.
To try and smooth things over in the meantime, however, Sancho has now deleted his post on X criticising Ten Hag.
Jadon Sancho set for more Man Utd talks with Ten Hag
That decision has apparently proved the catalyst for Ten Hag to offer an olive branch to Sancho, with more peace talks scheduled to take place between the pair.
Writing for Caught Offside, Fabrizio Romano revealed the latest: “Jadon Sancho has deleted his social media post which came after Erik ten Hag’s comments about not training well enough to be in the squad for the Arsenal game. Still, from what I’m hearing there is still no final clarity on what will happen between Sancho and Ten Hag, there is still no guarantee that Sancho will be selected for the next game.
“I’m aware that fans are keen to find out more about this situation, but we have to wait a bit more, it’s still not guaranteed that the situation is clarified despite the statement deleted. My understanding is that more rounds of talks will take place also internally at Man United to discuss the Sancho situation further.”
Those talks will come around following an update on his move to Saudi Arabia that failed to go through last week.
And according to The Athletic, Ten Hag was in favour of the player’s sale to Al-Ettifaq.
‘After Sancho’s retort on social media, United were prepared to sanction a permanent exit away from Old Trafford, with the transfer windows still open in Saudi Arabia and Turkey’, the article began.
‘Saudi clubs were told of a £65m ($81.3m) asking price for a player who joined United in July 2021 for £73m. Approaches for him to leave the club, however, were knocked back by Sancho and his representatives. There were no talks about a permanent transfer and Sancho never gave any indication of being open to a move. United declined to comment.’
Sancho branded childish after transfer collapse
However, a further revelation around the saga that almost saw Sancho leave United last week to move to Saudi Arabia has also been unearthed by The Athletic. And they claim that a source close to Borussia Dortmund feel that while ‘Jadon was mentally tough on the pitch’ he could be ‘quite childish and unprofessional with little things’.
It all means that Sancho still has quite some way to go before he earns a fresh chance at United. And it seems that making amends with Ten Hag will only be the first step with United officials also now needing convincing that he is a player worth keeping and one who can knuckle down and let his football do the talking.
However, with the prospects of a move away from Old Trafford over – until the January window at least, which is due to open in 110 days – Sancho now has the chance to focus on making the most of what could yet be a second chance.
And with one competitor for a shirt in Antony also on a period of leave, the player will hope to get a chance to stake a claim to resurrect that career that just last week seemed lost.
Earlier this week, United were also linked with a move for free agent winger Anwar El Ghazi, who could have arrived as a would-be replacement for both Sancho and Antony in a short-term capacity.
However, Romano has become the latest source to play down the prospects of a move.
“Staying with United, Anwar El Ghazi has been linked as a possible option for the Red Devils as he’s a free agent after leaving PSV Eindhoven. Despite these rumours, from what I’m hearing El Ghazi is not a target for United, nothing is happening on that,” Romano added.
Sancho is contracted to United until summer 2026, with United holding a one-year option on that deal.