Jadon Sancho’s ‘petulant’ time at Man Utd – shirt no. rows to training problems

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho continues to be a cause for concern for Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag after their public disagreement.

However, it's not the first time the England international has faced issues at United. Sancho has failed to live up to the lofty expectations placed on him following a £73million transfer from Borussia Dortmund two years ago.

Having had three different managers in charge during his time at Old Trafford, Sancho now finds himself on the fringes of the team under Ten Hag and has expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation. After United's 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, Ten Hag revealed Sancho had been omitted from the squad due to his poor performances in training.

"You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices in the front line," said the Dutch boss. "So for this game, he was not selected."

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In response, Sancho took to social media to defend himself, writing: "I will not allow people saying things that are completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well in training. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't go into.

"I've been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair! All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team.

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"I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and (am) grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!"

Sancho's response has divided fans, with some supporting his right to speak out and others suggesting he should focus on earning his place back in the team. However, it should come as no surprise that Sancho finds himself in this situation as the 23-year-old has a history of clashes with club hierarchies, reports the Mirror.

Dortmund issues

During his time at Dortmund, Sancho was sent to train with the reserves after repeatedly arriving late for first-team training. Following a heavy defeat to Bayern Munich two years later, Sancho felt 'scapegoated and humiliated' when he was substituted after just 36 minutes, with his camp of the belief that he was unfairly blamed for the team's poor performance.

Additionally, the forward was suspended by then-Dortmund manager Lucian Favre for returning late to the club after international duty with England. As a young player, Sancho reportedly expected more understanding and support from the German side.

Sir Alex Ferguson comparison

Former United goalkeeper Ben Foster criticised Sancho's handling of Ten Hag's public criticism, stating that under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, his career at the club would be over.

Foster described Sancho's reaction as 'petulant', saying: "It is absolutely crazy. If Alex Ferguson is manager and Jadon Sancho did this, he would never see the light of day for Manchester United.

"He would never play for this club, he wouldn’t be allowed near the training ground, you are done. It is petulant, emotive, reactional and disrespectful.

"It just becomes a massive storm and now everyone wants to know what has happened – has Ten Hag lost the dressing room? What were the training sessions really like? Sancho says it is nothing to do with training, fantastic, you should be applying yourself and putting the work in. That is the minimum. I don’t blame Ten Hag one little bit, as long as that is the truth."

Early United problem

Sancho also encountered issues early in his United career – regarding the number seven shirt. The club had promised him the iconic shirt number during negotiations to sign him from Dortmund in 2020.

However, when Sancho finally joined the club a year later, Edinson Cavani was already wearing the number seven shirt. This caused some tension and Sancho had to settle for the number 25 instead.

Eventually, Cavani did give up the number seven, but it was given to Cristiano Ronaldo instead, further adding to Sancho's disappointment.

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