Will Jadon Sancho leave Man Utd in January?

It has been a very dramatic season so far for Manchester United for a number of different reasons, one of which is Jadon Sancho.

Erik ten Hag has had a lot to deal with when it comes to player selection, mainly due to the sheer number of injuries there has been. Along with that, there was the departure of Mason Greenwood, the temporary absence of Antony, and the public falling out with Sancho that has seen the English winger indefinitely frozen out by the Dutch coach.

The situation with Sancho has gone on long enough now that many wonder if he is going to be leaving in January, despite only arriving in 2021 after a long chase for a massive £73m.

Here is a look at the current situation and whether he really will depart at the next opportunity.

It is fair to say that Jadon Sancho has never found his best form at Manchester United, but he seemingly had a perfectly fine relationship with Ten Hag last season. The boss allowed Sancho to have three months away from the club as a sort of reset period, arranging for him to train with a Dutch team. There was a slight upturn in form when Sancho returned, but it has been downhill from there.

Things came to a head after the defeat to Arsenal in September 2023. Sancho was left out of the squad for that game and when asked about his, Ten Hag said: “On his performance in training, we didn’t select him. You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United.”

As reported by The Athletic, Sancho did not commit to a drill in the expected manner before the Arsenal match and that was what angered Ten Hag. The situation was inflamed when Sancho shared a social media post responding to Ten Hag’s comments which he said were ‘completely untrue’ and said he had been ‘scapegoated’ for some time.

He has had no involvement with the first-team since the first opportunity to apologise to Ten Hag was not taken, and it seems the only way he will play for United again is if he does apologise, face to face, with that apology then allowed to be reported by the club before he is brought back into the fray. The issue is, Sancho has shown no sign of doing that.

Since being frozen out, he has been training with the youth team, where players have spoken highly of the 23-year-old. Certain actions may not have pleased Ten Hag, such as his trip to the United States for a birthday party, the time spent at a nightclub in London, and the fact that he has supposedly been playing EA Sports FC 24 in the early hours of the morning.

With no apology seemingly in sight, it is time for the club to think about the future, given he is an expensive asset. 90min understands that the favoured destination for Sancho would be former club Borussia Dortmund. There are a lot of issues surrounding that move, though. One of the options being considered is an 18-month loan deal with recalls on both sides available in each window.

United would like a permanent sale, but would be willing to sanction a long-term loan in which they eventually recoup most of the money they paid for Sancho in 2021.

His contract at Old Trafford runs until 2026m so if there is no apology, something has to be done. The financial side of a deal with Dortmund would be tough, given Sancho earns more than £200,000-per-week. United would need to contribute to that salary were a loan deal to happen.

Other clubs in Germany, as well as some in Italy and Spain have shown interest. Juventus have been linked as they lack attacking options. 90min understand that West Ham are also interested, which could be attractive to Sancho as it means staying in the Premier League and returning to London.

United fans had been screaming for Jadon Sancho for a long time before he actually arrived, as his form at Dortmund had been electrifying. He got 50 goals and 64 assists in 137 games for the German side, but that is not how things have panned out in Manchester.

Positional problems, such as the fact that he would rather play Marcus Rashford’s role on the left, as well as confidence issues, mean that each Sancho goal for United has turned out to be a false dawn.

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