Jadon Sancho looks like an isolated figure at Manchester United after a public clash with manager Erik ten Hag. Photo: Getty Images/Ash Donelon < p>There are times when Jadon Sancho locks the door to the Academy team dressing room, left alone with his thoughts and wondering how it came to this.
Move to Manchester United from Borussia £73m Dortmund were expected to give the England striker the platform and opportunity to take his game to the next level in July 2021.
But of all the big-ticket signings who have passed through Old Trafford for Sir, few have struggled as hard and delivered as little on their promises during the Alex Ferguson era as Sancho.
Ten Hag gave Sancho a three-month break last season , to improve his physical and mental condition, and now, for completely different reasons, he is working alone again. This time, he was dropped from the starting lineup after a feud with the coach that is about to drag into its seventh week and shows no signs of ending immediately, despite efforts by teammates, staff and management to find a way out of the impasse.
Visit United's Carrington training ground on any normal day and, far from the hustle and bustle of the under-18 and under-21 teams, not to mention the first team, you will find Sancho working alone — alone with individual coaches.
Sancho is featured at Carrington after his move from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United now leaves his career hanging in the balance. Photo: Getty Images/Ash Donelon
It's a sad spectacle and some of the details in particular point to a degree of division and isolation that is in itself unsettling given what Sancho personally endured last season. Sancho, who has been dropped from the first team squad because he refuses to apologize to Ten Hag for a public outburst early last month, must change in the academy dressing room.
But because strict security rules prevent him from sharing a dressing room with those academy players who are still considered minors, the 23-year-old must change alone and with the door locked so that no one can enter.
After the cut last season and now this one, it doesn't look like Sancho is doing what he's paid to do very often these days, and the longer his exile continues, the more fans may wonder if they'll see the player in that famous red T-shirt.
It must be said that Sancho has a path back to Old Trafford, or at least the appearance of one.
Ten Hag doesn't just want Sancho to apologize in private, he's demanding a full public apology to reflect his actions , which the player took on social media, and effectively accused his coach of lying about the reasons for his absence in the 3-1 defeat. at Arsenal on September 3.
According to Ten Hag, Sancho was not dropped due to his «performance in training», to which the player responded by telling his 2.2 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) that there were «other reasons» and that he had long been considered «a scapegoat, which is unfair.»
Sancho will not return to United without a public apology for his outburst in social networks. Photo: Getty Images/Matthew Peters
There have been other controversies with Sancho, not least his timing, but talk to those who are famous. situations, and they will say that such issues have been resolved. It is this social media post and its content that remains at the heart of the problem.
Ten Hag, determined to enforce a code of discipline and raise standards at a club that has lost its way, is not one to back down.
The problem is that Sancho, at least for now, doesn't seem willing to do that either. In his opinion, there were noticeable inconsistencies in the way Ten Hag applied certain rules to him compared to his teammates. However, the ball remains in his court. As one source put it: «Jadon will easily solve this problem tomorrow.»
At the end of the month, the clock will turn back, and perhaps the approaching onset of winter or the prospect of a new minority shareholder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, taking over their control of football activities at Old Trafford will cause a change in position, but until then the confrontation remains.
There was no shortage of people willing to solve this issue. John Murtaugh, United's director of football, was heavily involved, but other support staff also tried to reason with Sancho. Even his United teammates, including some of his closest allies in the dressing room, called on him to apologize and end the controversy. Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, Sancho's England colleagues, are among those who hope the situation can be sorted out, as does captain Bruno Fernandes.
They understand Sancho has grievances, but also acknowledge that making accusations against a manager in public will have consequences. Many in the United squad admit that discipline had fallen to such a level in the last season before Ten Hag arrived that things had to change. Rashford, for example, quickly apologized after he was left out of the starting line-up against Wolves last Christmas for being late to a team meeting and everyone moved on.
Can Sancho and Ten Hag do that the same thing? There is little denying that his future at Old Trafford is in doubt and, unless an apology is forthcoming, it would not be surprising if United try to move him in the January transfer window.
Similarly, even if he brings My apologies, Ten Hag will probably have to do a lot of convincing in training and on match days that Sancho is the player who should stay with us to continue playing beyond the short term.
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