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Jadon Sancho of Manchester United reacts

8 key Man Utd figures on the Jadon Sancho situation: ‘It can be resolved very quickly’

Ben Stewart •

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho finds himself in a tricky spot and we’ve gathered the thoughts of eight key figures to see what they think of the situation.

According to Sky Sports, Erik ten Hag has ‘no intention’ of backing down in his stand-off with Sancho as he won’t allow the winger to return to first-team training until he receives an apology.

Of course, this whole situation came from Ten Hag leaving Sancho out of his squad to face Arsenal. The Man Utd boss told reporters that the former Borussia Dortmund man hadn’t been up to the required standard in training, which Sancho quickly refuted on social media.

As things stand, there’s a real possibility for a January exit for the 23-year-old and we’ve gathered the thoughts of eight key figures to see what they make of the situation.

Gary Neville

Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville said: “[Ten Hag] will continue to keep doing what he is doing, which is following his beliefs, his values, his principles.

“The only thing I would say is, how popular is Sancho in the dressing room? How popular is Maguire in the dressing room?

“This discomfort and uncertainty is being created on the inside. You have got a player at the moment, who is probably changing in the first-team dressing room but is obviously over with the academy.”

John O’Shea

The former Red Devils defender thinks that Sancho should apologise to Ten Hag, even if he doesn’t “mean it”.

“Yeah, obviously look it does [seems like an extreme punishment] but very simply for me, it boils down to an argument between the manager and a player,” O’Shea told talkSPORT.

“Ultimately, the manager generally wins and that’s always been the case. If Jadon wants to get back playing football for United as quickly as possible, look maybe he might not mean it but just go and apologise.

“Then you’re back involved in the squad and back involved with a chance to play. I know it’s not ideal with how public it’s been but it can be resolved very quickly.”

Rio Ferdinand

Prior to the transfer window closing, Ferdinand thought that a move to Saudi Arabia could have been on the cards for Sancho, but this didn’t materialise in the end, despite the reported interest from Al-Ettifaq.

“There’s no way Jadon is putting out a statement like that if he hasn’t in his own eyes performed well,” Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube channel.

“That’s the difference as well. On his chart, Jadon [might think] – ‘I’ve trained alright’, but the manager might have a different standard. There’s two ways this ends. There’s only one window open now and that’s Saudi. Or you’re on the bench or not getting in the squad for the rest of the season.”

Peter Schmeichel

“Sancho wouldn’t have had a second chance with Sir Alex [Ferguson],” Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“It’s a player who’s come in at a high price and he’s not performed for the club. It’s not the first issue the club has had with him. Alex would have stopped that. Today it’s different of course. Anyone who speaks out about the manager, I don’t like that.

“I don’t think it’s right. It really is so annoying that when we talk about Man United we talk about nothing that has to do with football. It’s always about something else – the club has that kind of attraction all around the world, but we would like most of that narrative to be about football.”

Dimitar Berbatov

“I will not be surprised if Sancho struggles to get game time for United from here,” Berbatov told Betfair. “Players sometimes think they are really important and they can change something when they speak publicly.

“In reality, they only make the situation worse. In this case, I did not like what happened, and Sancho should have gone directly to Erik ten Hag and spoken to him man to man.

“Things could go either way now. If the manager likes you as a player, even if you make mistakes along the way, it will be easier for him to forgive you, keep you around and continue to give you another chance.

“If he doesn’t like you, then the situation becomes difficult. You will need to work even harder to get back into the team. Had Jadon Sancho done this when Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager, then he would have been out, because no one is bigger than the team.”

Paul Merson

The former Arsenal star still thinks that there is a way back for Sancho at Old Trafford as he told Sportskeeda: “There have been reports that his Old Trafford career is as good as over, but I don’t think that’ll be the case.

“A lot can change between now and the January transfer window and with Manchester United desperately short of options in attack, Sancho could claw his way back into the manager’s plans if he sticks to his guns and works diligently.”

Fabrizio Romano

“Guys, at the moment, from Manchester United, they want Jadon Sancho to apologise and to speak directly to the manager and the coaching staff to resolve the situation,” Romano told Caught Offside.

“This is the only way to resolve things. As of today, Jadon Sancho has still not apologised and this is why the situation is still in limbo and why there is still no green light for him to return to the first-team squad.

“There’s a way back for Jadon Sancho if he says sorry and apologises to the coaching staff. Of course, it’s also about discussing problems together – but this is not the case yet.”

Jamie O’Hara

“I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing to him,” O’Hara told talkSPORT when discussing the Sancho situation.

“I know he’s come out and made a statement, whether that was the right thing to do or not… but was it right of Ten Hag to dig him out when he wasn’t even involved with the group?

“We all know Jadon Sancho needs to be better on the football pitch. And how he does that is getting him back playing football, getting him training and enjoying his football.

“What they’re doing to him right now is never going to get Jadon Sancho back to his best. All you’re going to do is mentally damage the football player and make him feel worse than he already does.”

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