It was only a few short days ago that Manchester United star Jadon Sancho could have had his contract terminated, according to some – but now, the club’s position is a little clearer.
Sancho will not have his contract terminated despite the club firmly backing manager Erik ten Hag over the recent dispute involving both player and manager after the Dutchman had told reporters that Sancho had some training issues when asked why the winger had been left out of his matchday squad against Arsenal at the weekend. This prompted an incendiary response from the player, who took instantly to Twitter to give an impassioned defence in which he claimed he had long been a ‘scapegoat’.
“Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue,” he wrote.
“I have conducted myself in training very well this week. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into; I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time, which isn’t fair!”
Florian Pettenburg of Sky Germany reported that a contract termination is completely out of the question for the star, for whom Manchester United paid upwards of £70 million in 2021.
The Guardian, however, claims that the Red Devils are backing the manager in this particular situation, with the likelihood that the situation would be resolved between the player and the manager in the coming weeks, with the English transfer window having just ended.
Appearing on his FIVEYouTube channel, former United captain Rio Ferdinand had suggested that Sancho pursue a move to Saudi Arabia, claimng, “There’s two ways this ends. There’s only one window open now and that’s Saudi [Arabia] – or you’re on the bench or not getting in the squad for the rest of the season.”
While the parallels with the Cristiano Ronaldo situation of last season are obvious, it is no secret Ten Hag has fallen out with former stars in the past and subsequently made up with them.
One such case in point was in 2022 when Ten Hag dropped Andre Onana for Ajax’s Dutch Cup final appearance against PSV following remarks the goalkeeper made following criticism over a high-profile mistake – before signing him at United this summer.