Jadon Sancho has endured two difficult years since he joined Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
That was a transfer saga that seemed to drag on, and on, and on, and on.
Despite everything that happened before Erik ten Hag’s arrival, the Dutchman sent Sancho away last season to train in the Netherlands so that he could build on the physical and mental side of his game.
This looked like the lending shoulder Sancho needed at United, until he threw it back in the manager’s face after a recent 3-1 defeat against Arsenal.
Sancho has continued to be in and out of the team and recently, he took to social media to deny claims by Ten Hag that he had not reached the required standards in training. The claim wasn’t hard to believe because the winger doesn’t reach the required levels in matches either.
There was a positive development on Tuesday when Sancho decided to delete his ill-advised statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
It has now emerged that United had grown frustrated with Sancho due to his issues with punctuality, which led to them devising a schedule one hour ahead of everyone else – just to ensure he could be at training in time.
The Athletic claim the scheme had initial success before Sancho ‘fell into familiar patterns’, so this doesn’t sound like a footballer who is determined to better himself and earn a place in the team. That is a worry and it needs to be addressed quickly.
The report claims Ten Hag had become ‘exasperated with Sancho’s punctuality and what he perceived as sluggishness in training’. It added that the manager was not alone and the same view is shared by several players.
These all seem like simple things to address if you are Sancho. Does he have someone dress him in the morning?
All of this only raises further questions about Sancho’s future and it’s understood that United would have listened to offers following the recent spat, but the England international was not interested in moving to Saudi Arabia.
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