Erik ten Hag’s latest Jadon Sancho comments provide major hint over Man United future

Jadon Sancho has returned to Manchester United training at Carrington for the first time since last September.

It was confirmed by United on Friday evening that Sancho had returned to training the previous day.

“Jadon Sancho returned for testing on Wednesday following his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund during the second half of last season. The 24-year-old forward then trained with the group on Thursday,” a club statement read.

It was further reported by various outlets that Sancho held a positive meeting with manager Ten Hag this week, and they both agreed to draw a line on their previous disagreement and move on.

Sancho was initially exiled from the United squad after a social media statement criticised Ten Hag. He labelled himself as a scapegoat after being left out of a matchday squad

Ten Hag has yet to address the 24-year-old in the media since the club returned to pre-season, but his latest comments came just before the Champions League semi-final last term.

“We are close in that process,” the United manager explained when asked about Sancho’s form at the time. “We are visiting games.

“Not only [Wednesday] – [I] will not say all the games, but we have seen more games from Dortmund where Jadon was performing. We had a visit with him, we talked with him, and we will keep going with this process.”

Ten Hag was then asked about whether he still believes Sancho must provide an apology in order to return. He responded: “There was a conflict and let’s finish the season first. So stay away from this issue now – it is not important.

“He has the return [leg] of the semi-final, in the league it is not going that well for them. We have four important games in the league and the FA Cup final and then we will see.”

It was extremely interesting at the time, as the manager had previously demanded an apology and appeared to open the door ever so slightly for a return.

While the player returning to training does not necessarily mean that he will stay at the club, it is clear that the Dutch manager rates him as a player and the dispute was the main hurdle, which now seems to be resolved.

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