Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed that his winger Jadon Sancho will still continue to train alone after returning from a break. The England international has been missing from action since United’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea back in October. While an injury was being speculated as the for the youngster’s absence, the United manager himself revealed that the player took a break to tackle ‘mental and physical’ struggles.
Jadon Sancho has been one of United stellar signings in recent years, joining from Borussia Dortmund last summer for a hefty fee of £75 million. However, he quite evidently has failed to live up to the expectations and the price tag after stunning four years in Germany wherein he racked up 50 goals and 64 assists in just 137 appearances for Dortmund. But he has failed to hit that form in England, piling up pressure on him to deliver.
Ten Hag says Jadon Sancho back, but not yet ready
Jadon Sancho has had endured a tough 18 months in Manchester with his form only going down the graph. Moreover, the Red Devils’ fans are perplexed at the situation, given the 22-year-old was quite familiar with English football having come through the Manchester City academy. The winger had move to Dortmund from City back in 2017 for more first-team opportunities, and did deserve those with the Bundesliga side.
However, back in Manchester last year, Sancho was a disaster literally for United, scoring a mere 5 goals and providing 3 assists in 38 games. While it was justified since the youngster needed time to once again adapt the to the system and also saw managers change twice during his debut season, the patience of the fans was up this season after he had another dismal start.
Sancho could manage only 3 goals and 1 assist in 14 games for United this season, before taking a short hiatus. Moreover, he was left out of England’s World Cup squad as well owning to his poor form, which further affected the winger in a negative way. During the World Cup break, when the United squad travelled to Spain for a mid-season camp, Ten Hag instead sent Sancho to the Netherlands to work closely with some expert coaches he knew there. Speaking about his return, the Dutchman has revealed now:
“The time is not now [for him to return to the squad] but he is making progress. We will see when he is ready to return into the squad. He’s back in Manchester, he will start individual training.”
Eyebrows were raised when United were back in competitive action against Burnley in the Carabao Cup following the conclusion of the World Cup, and Jadon Sancho was still not seen. The 23-cap England international was expected to make the line-up with Ten Hag eyeing heavy rotations, but was rather left out of the squad completely.
Sancho has also been not included in United’s travelling squad for the Wolves game and as evident, Ten Hag is still not sure when will his winger return. United are already low on squad depth and are going to dive deep into the winter market for new recruitments after Cristiano Ronaldo too was sacked by the club following his explosive interview. The Dutchman will need his squad at full strength if he is to steer them to atop-four finish this season.