Gareth Southgate addresses Jadon Sancho’s England future amid Man United uncertainty

Gareth Southgate has stated that there is still an ‘opportunity’ for Jadon Sancho in the England set-up despite his last game being almost two years ago.

The Manchester United winger’s last kick of the football for The Three Lions came during the penalty shootout against Italy in the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley Stadium.

His penalty miss — alongside Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka’s — was widely criticised at the time but all three still seemed like they would be regulars for their country after the event.

Rashford and Saka were standouts for England in the following tournament, the 2022 World Cup, whilst Sancho watched on from home.

He was not picked in the squad and hasn’t done since a qualification game against Andorra in October 2021.

However, despite his current struggles at Old Trafford, England manager Gareth Southgate has stressed there is always a place for Sancho in the squad if he can show the form that earned him his £73 million move to United in the first place.

“I think that’s the challenge for him now. It’s been the best part of a couple of years since we worked with him, it’s difficult to say exactly the position that he finds himself and where he is with it all,” said Southgate.

“But for every player that’s not with us, there is always an opportunity if they can seize the form and have the (right) level of performances.”

Sancho’s future at United has been labeled as ‘uncertain’ following his shock statement in response to Erik ten Hag, who explained that the 23-year-old’s training performance was the reason behind his absence against Arsenal last week.

It was said that Ten Hag’s insistence on starting Antony on the right wing was one of Sancho’s gripes with the manager, however, the Brazilian now also has question marks over his United future.

United’s £85 million signing from Ajax last year is currently unavailable after the club stated that it has been agreed with the player to delay his return to the side in order to address allegations against him.

The 23-year-old has been accused of assault charges from three women. Antony denies any wrongdoing.