The Athletic Mini: Jadon Sanchos exile from Erik ten Hags Manchester United team

Publish date: 2024-06-11

Jadon Sancho has been training away from Manchester United’s first-team squad for more than a month after he refused to apologise to Erik ten Hag for saying on social media his manager’s comments were “completely untrue”.

Laurie Whitwell’s special report details how:

Sancho and Ten Hag met on September 11 to go through training clips but no resolution was achieved.
Ten Hag wanted a face-to-face apology and the club would then communicate that publicly but Sancho refused.
His representatives, including lawyers, were involved in a reconciliation process that ended in a deadlock.
Sancho is not allowed in the senior facilities at United’s training ground, or to use the first-team canteen.
Other attempts at mediation have failed to reach a breakthrough, with neither man appearing to want to back down.

GO DEEPER

Special report - Inside Jadon Sancho's Manchester United exile

Read the full report by clicking here.

Below, The Athletic explains who Sancho is, how we got here, what might happen next and what Manchester United fans think of the situation…

Who is Jadon Sancho?

A 23-year-old Manchester United forward, Sancho has been capped 23 times by England seniors.

He became the second-most expensive English player in history when he joined United in July 2021 from Borussia Dortmund for €85million (then £73m; $101m).

Sancho, right, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after signing in 2021 (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)

He was only 21, a prodigy in a hurry who had left Watford for Manchester City at 14, moved to Borussia Dortmund at 17 and then arrived in the Premier League.

“If you’re serious about football, you have to make sacrifices,” he said at the time. “You can’t be afraid. You can’t be the best if you don’t take chances.”

It was a long courtship between United and Sancho. He was identified as then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s main target in the summer of 2020 but United baulked at Dortmund’s €120million fixed fee and Sancho stayed in Germany for another 12 months.

He eventually signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford with the option of a sixth, with the fee also being paid in instalments over five years.

Sancho was part of the England squad that finished runners-up at the delayed European Championship in 2021, yet played only 96 minutes in the tournament. Sancho missed a penalty in the final shootout against Italy and then — like team-mate Marcus Rashford and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, who also failed to convert — received sickening racist abuse on social media.

How has he got on at United?

Solskjaer described Sancho as “a forward player in the best traditions of Manchester United” when he signed; a footballer who will “bring tremendous pace, flair and creativity to the team”. But it has not quite worked out like that.

At Dortmund, he was quick, got the ball up the pitch and showed an eye for a killer pass. He was also extremely versatile.

But Sancho has never really got going at United. With his first pre-season delayed by the European Championship and then illness, he was used predominantly on the left by Solskjaer, who was sacked within four months of Sancho’s arrival.

Ralf Rangnick came in as interim manager but United were knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League early and finished on their lowest points total in Premier League history after the campaign tumbled into tumult.

Erik ten Hag was appointed in the summer of 2022 and Sancho’s form improved, with a fine goal against Liverpool before August was out. But he remained solid rather than sensational.

Sancho showed glimpses of his talent at the start of last season (Getty Images)

By the time the 2022 World Cup in Qatar came around in mid-November, Sancho was not even in the conversation for a place in the England squad. Instead of representing his country, Sancho was sent to the Netherlands to work with coaches trusted by Ten Hag and left out of United’s warm-weather training camp in Spain in December. United said it was so he could “get back to his highest level”.

On December 14, Ten Hag commented on the difficulties surrounding what he called Sancho’s “mental fitness” — without, as it turned out, the permission of the player or his representatives.

Sancho did not play again until February this year, coming on in a Carabao Cup win against Nottingham Forest before scoring a week later in the Premier League in a 2-2 draw with Leeds United.

Sancho made 25 more appearances before the end of the campaign, including the FA Cup final defeat by Manchester City, but matters came to a head when he was not selected in United’s matchday squad for this season’s trip to Arsenal on September 3.

Ten Hag said it was owing to his performances in training, adding: “You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United, you can make choices in the front line, so in this game, he wasn’t selected.”

Sancho hit back on social media, saying it was “completely untrue” and that he had been made “a scapegoat for a long time”.

What happened after that?

The international break offered some light relief, with Sancho flying to New York for a holiday on Wednesday, September 6. He was later photographed at a birthday party for NBA star John Wall.

The transfer windows were, however, still open in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and United were prepared to sanction a permanent exit.

(Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Saudi clubs were told of a £65million ($81.3m) asking price for Sancho and United made enquiries with Dortmund but approaches from the Middle East were knocked back by the player and his representatives. There were no talks about a permanent transfer and Sancho never gave any indication of being open to a move.

He returned to United’s training ground, Carrington, as requested on Monday, September 11 and went through videos of his last training session with Ten Hag. The meeting failed to broker any resolution and, after a difference of opinion about the form Sancho’s apology should take, the player was banished from the first-team training group on Thursday, September 14.

Since then, he has been training with United’s academy teams.

What happens now?

With neither side appearing likely to back down, Sancho will have to wait until the January transfer window opens to find a move away from Old Trafford — either a permanent deal or a loan.

But by then, United may well have a new minority shareholder in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s firm INEOS, which has offered to buy 25 per cent of the club for £1.3billion. A new owner could have a different outlook on Sancho’s future.

As things stand, however, the Saudi route is seen as the most plausible because European teams will struggle to match Sancho’s wages of more than £200,000 per week. But Juventus have been linked with an approach and some in the industry believe Sancho’s London connections make Chelsea a possible option.

Sancho, though, must be happy with the terms of any prospective move — his United contract does not run out until the summer of 2026, after all.

What do fans think?

The Athletic asked United fans whether Sancho should be reintegrated into the first team.

More than 64 per cent of the thousands who responded said he should return only when Ten Hag decides. About 27 per cent said he should never be allowed back and that United must sell him in the January transfer window. Only 3.8 per cent wanted him back in the squad immediately.

To read the full special report, Go Deeper below.