Pep Guardiola has already warned Manchester United about Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho’s relationship with Erik ten Hag looks to be on the rocks after publicly disagreeing with the manager’s comments that he hadn’t trained well in the build-up to the Premier League clash with Arsenal.
The winger failed to even make the bench as Manchester United fell to a heartbreaking late 3-1 defeat to their rivals at the Emirates on Sunday. In response to his manager’s claims, Sancho tweeted: “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. I believe there are other reasons for this matter which I won’t go into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!
“All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to the team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and am grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”
Sancho has underwhelmed since his £73million move from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 and has so far failed to break into Ten Hag’s first team consistently.
His outburst appears to have raised question marks over his future at Old Trafford and he could now face the axe after deciding to take his boss on in public. Sancho previously found himself struggling to get into the first team at Manchester City after seeing the likes of fellow academy graduate Phil Foden successfully make the step up.
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That, ultimately, saw the England international take the bold step to move to the Bundesliga with Dortmund, as City boss Pep Guardiola previously hinted Sancho ‘didn’t want to take the challenge’ to fight his way into the Spaniard’s first-team plans.
Asked about why Sancho left in 2019, the City boss said: “I don’t know. He didn’t want to take this challenge [to fight his way into the first team], this opportunity to discover if he was able to.
“He decided to go there. So, it’s perfect. It’s going well and congratulations on what he is doing.
“He is doing an incredible performance. He did it incredibly well this season. What would have happened this season [at City]? I don’t know. Again, with the players, it depends on them and what they do on the pitch.”
The comments paint a picture of a player who may seek a way out when presented with an obstacle on his route to the first team. Something not too dissimilar to what he is facing now at United.
Indeed, Sancho himself even admitted to glancing an envious eye toward players who are getting regular minutes as he opened up about the move himself in 2022.
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He told Sky Sports Germany: “I saw who else was playing in Dortmund. For example, Christian Pulisic, who was only 19 at the time. He was almost a role model for me.
“I saw him and thought to myself, ‘That could be me too’. Luckily BVB gave me this chance and I think I did the job.”
Sancho could well be taking similar glances this week. With the winger having fallen out of the picture for Gareth Southgate’s England side Sancho may well become envious of the opportunities being afforded to the likes of Eberechi Eze, Jack Grealish, and James Maddison.
Sancho was well ahead of all of them when he first moved to Old Trafford but will have to watch on as they represent their country against Ukraine and Scotland in the coming days.
He may well once again be left thinking, ‘That could be me too’.
Pep Guardiola has already warned Manchester United about Jadon Sancho