Jadon Sancho is facing an uncertain future at Manchester United because of his spat with Erik ten Hag.
The Times understands that Ten Hag and some of his staff feel let down by Sancho because of the lengths they went to in order to help the winger, 23, recover from his struggles last season.
The United manager allowed him to train in the Netherlands, away from the first team, for three months after claiming that he had to overcome “physical and mental” issues. Ten Hag arranged for Sancho to work with coaches at an amateur club in his homeland in an effort to help him recover.
On Sunday, Sancho reacted angrily after Ten Hag said he had been left out of the squad for United’s defeat by Arsenal “because of his performances in training”. Sancho told his followers on Twitter that they should not believe the claim and he was being made a “scapegoat”. “I have conducted myself in training very well this week,” he added.
Sancho’s riposte has not gone down well at Old Trafford and club insiders were debating on Monday whether the former Borussia Dortmund man would play for the club again. That said, the transfer window is closed except for in a few countries outside Europe, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
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Sancho has three years left on his contract, which is worth more than £200,000 a week.
Sancho and Ten Hag are unlikely to meet and discuss the matter immediately as both have a few days off during the international break. Sancho’s representative and United declined to comment.
Onana has decided to come out of Cameroon retirement
HEULER ANDREY/GETTY IMAGES
The winger has scored 12 goals in 82 appearances since he joined United from Dortmund in a £73 million deal two years ago. He impressed during pre-season but has not started any of United’s Premier League games so far.
Meanwhile, André Onana, United’s new goalkeeper, has made himself available for international duty again.
The Cameroonian fell out with his head coach, Rigobert Song, during last year’s World Cup but he confirmed yesterday that he will play in the country’s crunch Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi next Tuesday. Cameroon need at least a draw to qualify for the month-long tournament, which starts on January 13 in Ivory Coast.
If Onana plays in the competition, Altay Bayindir will step in for him at United. The 25-year-old Turkey goalkeeper joined United from Fenerbahce for £4.3 million last week.
Eric Bailly has joined Besiktas on a free transfer. The 29-year-old centre-back, who spent last season on loan at Marseille, had one year left on his contract with United but was deemed surplus to requirements by Ten Hag.
The transfer was allowed to occur because Turkey’s transfer window is open until September 15. English clubs could buy players until their window closed last Friday night.
