Nemanja Matic disclosed that Jadon Sancho was “always late” to training, leading to his exclusion from Manchester United.
The England international has not figured for the Red Devils since August 26, with Erik ten Hag dropping him from the first-team squad at Old Trafford. Sancho is being made to work with United’s academy teams, with the £75 million ($95m) star seemingly destined to move on in January, and Matic has suggested that the 23-year-old’s timekeeping may have contributed to Ten Hag asking serious questions of his attitude and commitment.
WHAT MATIC SAID ABOUT SANCHO
Ex-Chelsea and United midfielder Matic, who left English football in 2022, has told YU Planet of his former team-mates that were forever late for training: “At Chelsea, players acted professionally, they were punctual and were never late for training but at United it happened almost every day. Among the players who would always be late were Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho and couple of other players.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Matic and the rest of those towing the line at Old Trafford got so annoyed with Sancho and Co that they put a penalty system in place. Serbian star Matic added on how much money was made from the handing out of fines: “The rest of us who were always on time were angry so we decided to form a kind of an internal disciplinary committee with me serving as its president. I put a sheet of paper up on the wall where I documented the names of individuals arriving late. During one particular season we collected around £75,000 in fines. We had planned to use the money to throw a party in London but we didn’t due to the Covid outbreak.”
WHAT NEXT FOR SANCHO?
Sancho is under contract until the summer of 2026, but there appears to be little chance of him seeing that deal out. Having joined United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, he has registered just 12 goals for the Red Devils through 82 appearances.
