On Sunday, Manchester United suffered a 3-1 defeat against Arsenal courtesy of two late goals from Declan Rice & Gabriel Jesus, as the Red Devils slid down to the 11th spot on the table.
Given that Jadon Sancho didn’t travel with the squad to the Emirates Stadium and was absent from the game against Arsenal, Erik Ten Hag was questioned by the media about his absence from the team. The Dutchman revealed that he failed to meet the mandated level for selection due to his performance in training, so he was kept out last week.
Ten Hag told the reporters, “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.”
The controversy erupted when the Englishman came out with an immediate response on Twitter, calling out Ten Hag’s comments to express his disagreement over the selection.
Jadon Sancho posted on Twitter saying, “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people to say completely untrue things, I have conducted myself in training very well this week. Also said, “I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t get into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!”
— Jadon Sancho (@Sanchooo10) September 3, 2023
A dismal spell at Old Trafford
In 2021 summer, Jadon Sancho came to the Premier League with high ambitions and immense potential after proving his excellence in the Bundesliga. But couldn’t live up to the expectations and has struggled to make an impact ever since. Jadon is playing his third season with Manchester United, the second under the management of Dutchman Erik Ten Hag. The winger started this season’s campaign by coming off the bench thrice and recently being dropped for the Arsenal game.
Sancho, who completed a £72 million move from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, has enjoyed four fantastic seasons with BVB, scoring 50 goals and providing 64 assists in 137 appearances. His best form was evident in his final two seasons in the Bundesliga, where he scored 25 goals and contributed 27 assists.
Before joining Dortmund, Sancho made his first big move to Manchester City; however, things didn’t go well when he struggled to break into the first team and left for Dortmund in 2017.
The 23-year-old has managed just 12 goals and six assists in 82 games in his first two campaigns with the Red Devils, a subpar display to his stature. It is quite evident even after three seasons at Old Trafford, the forward couldn’t secure a permanent place in the team and has failed to replicate Dortmund’s form.
Sancho consequently went on to score twice, netting a comeback goal up against Leeds United, following a goal in the 3-0 win over Leicester. And despite making a statement with a goal against Leeds on 8th February upon his Premier League return. Thereafter he managed only three goals in 25 appearances and is yet to start a game this season.
The forward has rarely found his best form following a move away from Signal Aduna Park and struggled to make a permanent place in the team with a lack of fitness and inconsistency. Meanwhile also lost his England national team spot in the process.
A Challenging time ahead for Jadon Sancho?
The clouds of uncertainty are all over Sancho’s future at Manchester United; irrespective of the situation, the winger is linked to Saudi and Turkish clubs in the final stages of the window, as the Saudi Arabian transfer window closes on September 7, and September 20 is the date for Turkish clubs.
However, at this moment a move away from the Premier League seems unlikely. It is understood that the player and the manager are expected to hold a talk in the coming days to attempt to resolve this matter.
The way forward for the England international is going to be very difficult. It might worsen, if he fails to regain his place after falling out with his manager and upsetting his teammates lately. It may even lead to contract termination, similar to Cristiano Ronaldo’s saga from a season ago. Regardless of the outcome, it is sad to witness the decline of talent once regarded as generational just a few seasons ago.
