Inside Jadon Sancho's exile and exit: What went wrong for him at Manchester United (2024)

How does one of the most exciting young players in European football end up spending four months in exile at his club, at odds with his manager over a sub-par training session and a social media post?

How does one of the most eagerly-anticipated signings in Manchester United’s recent history find himself changing in an academy dressing room, with the door locked to comply with safeguarding guidelines?

How does the fourth-most expensive player in the club’s entire history end up having his meals delivered to him in a lunch box due to a ban from the first-team canteen?

Those questions are all the more relevant when you consider that, of all United’s major signings during the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Jadon Sancho’s was really one the key decision-makers at Old Trafford should have got right. After all, it took the best part of two summers to complete.

In fact, United’s interest in Sancho dated back even further, originating in dialogue with the player’s intermediaries before his departure from Manchester City’s academy to German side Borussia Dortmund in 2017. United also explored a potential transfer two years later, during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first summer in charge, only to deem an approach too complicated.

Not that it was significantly easier 12 months on, during the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, when their attempts to sign Sancho began in earnest. A deal was possible but only along the terms Dortmund laid out: an asking price of €120million (£103m/$131m at current exchange rates), to be met by a deadline of August 10.

United were not prepared to pay that price — a stance former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward held to beyond Dortmund’s deadline, after which the Bundesliga club would only consider a sale in the range of €140million to €150m.

Nevertheless, United continued their pursuit, mistakenly thinking Dortmund may buckle in terms of that valuation. That misplaced belief meant alternative signings were not sought until late in the window and when a Covid-delayed 2020-21 Premier League campaign was already well under way.

During the final days of that window, Sancho was pictured attending a house party, in breach of lockdown restrictions, alongside fellow England internationals Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell, held to celebrate Abraham’s birthday. All three players subsequently sat out a friendly against Wales, although returned for Nations League meetings with Belgium and Denmark.

It was the most high-profile example of off-field indiscretions which had pockmarked Sancho’s time at Dortmund, following reports of poor punctuality and a €10,000 (£8,600, $11,000) fine for getting a haircut during lockdown.

United were aware of those concerns but believed they were a product of Sancho’s desire to ultimately leave the German team and felt they could create an environment in which he would want to perform at his very best. As a result, their interest never abated.

At the end of that season, at a meeting held the morning after United’s penalty shootout defeat against Villarreal in the Europa League final, key Old Trafford figures including then manager Solskjaer and newly-installed football director John Murtough resolved to prioritise Sancho’s signing that summer.

In a departure from other major deals completed during the final years of Woodward’s tenure, an agreement was struck relatively early. United settled on a €73million fee by July 1, with the deal signed, sealed and delivered three weeks later, after the conclusion of that summer’s European Championship.

Yet upon his arrival at United’s Carrington base, there was the complication of a serious ear infection which required Sancho to go to hospital and to train with cotton buds pressed into his ear canals.

As a result, he only began training with the rest of the squad a week before the start of the 2021-22 season and Solskjaer did not feel able to start him in the opening games at home against Leeds United and away to Southampton.

By the time of his full debut in a 1-0 victory away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third fixture in late August, he could no longer be considered United’s marquee signing of the window. The unexpected return of Cristiano Ronaldo had been confirmed just days earlier.

Whereas the five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored twice in his homecoming in the 4-1 win over Newcastle United early the following month, Sancho was replaced in the 66th minute. In the dressing room at full-time, Sancho remarked that the pace of the game had taken him by surprise. He was told, in no uncertain terms, to get used to it.

Yet Sancho struggled to adapt. By the time of Solskjaer’s dismissal that November, he had failed to score a goal or register an assist in 14 appearances.

During those early months, a sense developed that more could have been done to help Sancho adjust to life back in Manchester and to the demands of the Premier League, especially after such a disruptive summer and his delayed start to training at his new club.

Sancho’s adaptation was not helped by uncertainty over what his best position was. As Solskjaer switched systems and moved to a back three in an attempt to arrest United’s slide, his new signing was even deployed as a right wing-back in some training sessions.

That experiment was never seen in a match but it spoke to how, in the space of only a few months, a supposedly transformational signing had become a bit-part player.

In an interview with The Athletic in September last year, Solskjaer revealed Sancho was identified as United’s first-choice right-wing target by the recruitment department, an assessment he agreed with. There was a problem, though.

“He’s immensely talented and we haven’t seen the best of him,” Solskjaer said, “I hope we do, but he prefers to play left wing — where Marcus (Rashford) plays.”

That inconsistency between Sancho’s preferred role on the left and United’s oversubscription of players in that position has been apparent throughout his three seasons at Old Trafford, whoever has happened to be in charge of the team.

The interim appointment of Ralf Rangnick — a pioneer of the high-octane, transitional style of play that had suited Sancho in the Bundesliga — after Solskjaer’s departure was viewed as a potential turning point internally and externally, particularly as Sancho had impressed during Michael Carrick’s brief caretaker spell.

Rangnick felt Sancho was one of the players most responsive to his methods in training and talked up his talent in his notoriously frank media appearances. Yet he also saw a need to publicly challenge him to replicate his consistent Carrington displays on the pitch during games.

After initially playing in a central No 10 role under Rangnick, Sancho was trusted to start in his favoured left-wing position for much of the remainder of that season, until it was ended prematurely in late April by a bout of tonsillitis.

Though far from United’s worst player and only one part of a struggling side, a return of three goals and three assists from 29 appearances (20 starts) in the 2021-22 Premier League was short of compelling evidence to support his claim for a regular left-sided berth in the long term.

Then there was the moment, in a campaign riven by tensions and disagreements, when a group of players led by Ronaldo held a meeting with Rangnick where it was suggested United should play two up front — a switch in system that, in turn, would necessitate dropping Sancho.

With the arrival of Erik ten Hag as the new manager the following summer, Sancho returned to playing on the right.

Ten Hag was happy with the winger’s performances in pre-season and at the start of the campaign proper. Three goals in eight games — including United’s first in a 2-1 home victory against Liverpool, Ten Hag’s first win — briefly hinted at a return to something approaching the output of his Dortmund days.

Yet United staff began to notice Sancho’s performances dipping after the September international break and a 51st-minute substitution in a 1-1 draw at Chelsea in October would be his final first-team appearance for three and a half months.

Dutchman Ten Hag sent Sancho to the Netherlands to train with trusted coaches, and he did not travel to United’s warm-weather training camp in Andalusia, Spain, during the World Cup hiatus at the end of 2022 — a decision which some viewed as a disciplinary move as much as an act of player care, done to correct sluggish performances in training and bouts of lateness rather than letting them fester.

During a media briefing at that warm-weather camp in Spain, Ten Hag referenced Sancho’s need to work on “a combination of physical but also mental” issues — a revelation which did not sit well with some at Old Trafford. Ten Hag did not have permission from the player or his representatives to discuss the matter.

Ten Hag felt his comments were supportive of the player, while United believed that to offer no reason for his absence would have fuelled speculation. The manager reiterated that Sancho was not fit enough the following month, repeating that: “It’s physical, but physical is also the connection with mental.”

Sancho resumed full training and returned to the pitch in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest on February 1, making 27 appearances (17 of them starts) from that point to the end of the season. Although there were glimpses of his ability in that run, the last of those displays — the FA Cup final defeat against Manchester City — left Ten Hag unimpressed.

Still, the manager spoke of Sancho being in a “very good vibe” weeks later on United’s pre-season tour. Although that comment came with the caveat that the 23-year-old’s ‘vibe’ is his responsibility, it was difficult to predict the breakdown in relations that would follow only a matter of weeks later.

On the first weekend in September, Sancho was left out of the travelling squad for an eventual 3-1 away defeat against Arsenal.

Ten Hag put his omission down to “his performances in training”.

Sancho hit back, posting on Twitter: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week. 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!”

At United, Sancho’s response was viewed as tantamount to accusing Ten Hag of lying.

After a permitted leave of absence during that month’s international break, player and manager met at Carrington to try to resolve the difference of opinion.

Ten Hag showed Sancho videos of the final training session before that trip to Arsenal — a practice match between what would be United’s starting XI and a shadow side, including Sancho, designed to imitate their north London opponents. The manager was unhappy with Sancho’s application in the session, particularly with his pressing. Sancho disagreed but, following their meeting, further talks were held over how the matter should be resolved.

United wanted Sancho to delete the post and apologise to Ten Hag. That apology would then be publicly communicated. Sancho did delete the post but pushed back over the other element of the proposal. The talks to reconcile the player and manager ended without a resolution.

On September 14, United released a statement which said Sancho would “remain on a personal training programme away from the first-team group, pending resolution of a squad discipline issue”.

Sancho has not played since.

His attendance at those individual training sessions, meanwhile, has been described as “way below 100 per cent” by some at United, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships. But his absences have been put down to illness, with the club’s doctors kept informed on each occasion. Sancho’s camp denies he has missed more than a couple of sessions, and says that in each case it was because he was unwell.

There is speculation at Carrington that Sancho’s salary of more than £200,000 per week has been reduced due to him not being part of the first-team picture and the subsequent loss of image rights. His contract allegedly has a clause which links that portion of his salary to being a member of the senior squad, although this is also disputed by the Sancho camp.

In any case, that salary meant a permanent departure in this winter window was always unlikely.

A six-month spell in a familiar environment at Dortmund, under a coach in Edin Terzic who knows him relatively well, may now be the reset his career needs.

“When I came into the dressing room today, it felt like ‘coming home’,” Sancho said as his return was announced on Thursday. “I know the club inside and out, I’ve always been very close with the fans here, and I’ve never lost contact with those in charge. I can’t wait to see my team-mates again, go out on the pitch, play football with a smile on my face, prepare goals, score goals and help qualify for the Champions League.”

It was only a few weeks ago that senior figures at the Bundesliga club were playing down suggestions of any interest in Sancho but Dortmund’s stuttering form — no wins in their final six matches before the current winter break left them fifth in the table — and a desire to change their approach in attack has brought about a reunion.

For United, this deal represents an opportunity to rebuild Sancho as a player or, perhaps more likely, as a sellable asset in the summer.

Perhaps it did not have to be this way. Ask some who have worked with Sancho and they recall a quiet and unassuming character. Others think a softer approach may have been more beneficial in getting the best out of him.

There are staff who recall how Sancho, after requiring some coaxing, attended a Manchester United Foundation event where those in attendance were taken aback by the number of questions he had and his enthusiastic interest in the work.

Others have sympathy with Ten Hag’s hard-line stance, though, which will have been informed by matters pre-dating September’s fallout. Time-keeping, for example, has been a consistent issue for Sancho, as it was during his first, four-year spell with Dortmund.

Despite their paths only crossing for a single season, former United midfielder Nemanja Matic namechecked Sancho as one of several players who would “always be late” for training in an interview with Austria-based news outlet Yu Planet last month, and he has not been the only team-mate to mention Sancho’s punctuality problems in dealings with the media, albeit jovially.

Last season, members of Ten Hag’s staff began setting Sancho’s daily schedule to start at least one hour earlier than the rest of the squad. This initially had the desired effect, although only initially. Some senior figures at Carrington believe that despite United trying different methods to get the best out of Sancho — whether that be through incentives or punishments — concerns over his attention and focus have remained.

At this stage, a climbdown on Ten Hag’s part in this very public disagreement with his player would have seen him lose face, especially after taking such a hard stance.

The consensus upon the United manager’s appointment was that the squad he inherited from Solskjaer and Rangnick required whipping into shape through strict rules. A more disciplinarian approach from the manager’s office was at least partly credited with United exceeding expectations in Ten Hag’s debut season, which saw them finish third to qualify for the Champions League and win the Carabao Cup, the club’s first major trophy since 2017.

And for now, at least, Ten Hag’s approach with Sancho would appear to have tacit approval from those who will assume control of football operations at United in the coming weeks.

As part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25 per cent minority investment, United had to submit a pre-agreed ‘transfers plan’ to the English billionaire outlining their intentions for signings, sales and contract renewals between now and ratification. Loaning Sancho out was part of the pre-agreed plan and has therefore not required further consultation with INEOS, Ratcliffe’s company.

By the time Sancho returns from his Dortmund loan, Ratcliffe’s deal is expected to have been finalised and a decision on what to do with the 23-cap England winger on a more permanent basis will need to be made.

His contract expires in the summer of 2026, but includes the option of a further year. At present, the chances of Sancho’s Old Trafford career stretching on for another two and a half years — or beyond — appear remote. That is, unless his Old Trafford career outlasts Ten Hag’s. However, there has been no suggestion the Dutchman’s position is under imminent threat from the incoming INEOS regime.

Sancho will not be involved in these early days of the Ratcliffe-led era and, instead, he leaves the UK and returns to the club where his undoubted potential first announced itself.

He has a chance to show what he can do once again, rather than spending another five months sitting on the sidelines.

Additional reporting: Laurie Whitwell and Adam Crafton

(Top photo: Matt McNulty/Getty Images)