Jadon Sancho is practising on his own at Manchester United after being kicked out of the first-team squad for calling Erik ten Hag a liar on social media.
Manchester United will listen to offers for Jadon Sancho in January if the winger hasn’t ended his first-team exile by apologising to Erik ten Hag by then.
Sancho has been banished from the first-team squad and barred from the facilities used by the senior pros at Carrington since a social media post accused Ten Hag of lying about his training performances nearly seven weeks ago.
The 23-year-old has taken the post down but refused to apologise for its contents, which came immediately after Ten Hag had explained his absence from the squad for a defeat at Arsenal was down to a lack of quality in training.
There is no sign of the impasse ending, despite Sancho’s closest friends in the United dressing room imploring him to end the feud by saying sorry to his manager. His teammates have told Sancho that he is in the wrong and should apologise, while Ten Hag and football director John Murtough have explained the route back to the first-team to the £73million attacker.
But Sancho is stubbornly refusing to say sorry and with the January transfer window coming into view, his career at Old Trafford might only have a couple of months left to run.
There was interest in Sancho from Saudi Arabia on their deadline day in September, but the player had no intention of moving to the Gulf state at this stage. When the European window reopens on January 1 there could be more interest in the player if he remains an outcast at United, who will listen to any offers if that is the situation.
A source said the situation was “in Jadon’s hands now” and that Ten Hag was determined to stick with his principles and raise standards and discipline within his squad.
That is an area United wanted him to crack down on when they appointed the 53-year-old, with some first-team squad members disappointed at the breakdown in standards during the Ralf Rangnick era, to the point that they went over Rangnick’s head to complain about what was happening in the dressing room.
Ten Hag dropped Marcus Rashford to the bench at Wolves last season after he was 30 seconds late for a team meeting, while Cristiano Ronaldo was suspended for a game for refusing to come on against Tottenham and then had his contract terminated following his interview with Piers Morgan. Ten Hag also refused to play Alejandro Garnacho on tour after he was late on at least two occasions.
Ten Hag’s crackdown on standards and discipline has been compared to the process Mikel Arteta went through at Arsenal, when senior professionals were eventually sold or released, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who Arteta axed after repeated lateness.
Sancho had been in hot water for his time-keeping as well, but the social media post was a crucial factor in the decision to banish him from the first-team squad.
He is now using the academy facilities at Carrington and has to get changed on his own and with the door locked due to safeguarding issues at a facility that includes under-18s.