A recent report has unveiled the intense discussions that took place between Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and Jadon Sancho during their “clear the air” meeting in September.
Following the meeting’s lack of success, Sancho has now joined Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season, returning to Germany after not playing for United since August due to a public dispute with Ten Hag regarding training performances following the September 3-1 defeat to Arsenal.
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Since the unsuccessful talks, Sancho has been training separately from the first team and has not been considered for matchday squads, even when other players in his position were unavailable.
Ten Hag, who has chosen not to comment publicly on the matter, did mention in December that the door remained open for Sancho to return to the first team.
The Athletic has now reported details of the “clear the air” meeting, which was initially planned for the international break following the Arsenal defeat.
Sancho was granted a leave of absence during the break, although he was not on international duty with England. The meeting eventually took place at Carrington upon his return.
During the meeting, Ten Hag reportedly showed Sancho videos of the final training session before the Arsenal match, revealing a practice match between United’s starting XI and a secondary XI imitating the playing style of Arsenal.
The report indicates that Ten Hag was dissatisfied with Sancho’s application and pressing during that session, a point of disagreement between the manager and the player.
Further talks were scheduled, with United reportedly requesting Sancho to delete a social media post in which he disputed Ten Hag’s press conference comments on his perceived poor training performances.
Additionally, the club wanted Sancho to publicly apologize to the manager. However, Sancho did not apologize, and although he deleted the social media post, he was not named in another squad until his recent departure for Dortmund.
The possibility of the 23-year-old playing for United under Ten Hag again seems highly unlikely at this stage.
