Jadon Sancho has hinted at the two agonising reasons he struggled to make an impact at Manchester United.
Much was expected of the England international when he swapped Borussia Dortmund for Old Trafford nearly three years ago.
Having earned a reputation as one of European football’s most exciting attacking talents following four years tearing up the Bundesliga, Sancho struggled to meet expectations under a succession of different managers at United.
His United career reached its nadir at the start of the current season when he was left out the squad for a game against Arsenal in September, with Erik ten Hag publicly admonishing Sancho for his lack of application in training.
Sancho subsequently slammed his manager on X and was banished from the first team having steadfastly refused to apologise.
A return to Dortmund on loan has sparked a major revival, however, which the 24-year-old hopes will culminate in a victory in tomorrow night’s Champions League final against Real Madrid at Wembley.
Sancho’s renewed confidence was evidenced by his performance in the first leg of Dortmund’s semi-final first leg win over PSG, where he recorded 11 take-ons, becoming the first player to do so in a Champions League match since Lionel Messi back in 2008.
‘It’s definitely important for me to have a manager who has that trust in me that I can go anywhere on the pitch to pick up the ball,’ Sancho told CNN, hinting at the difference in coaching styles between Ten Hag and his current boss Edin Terzic.
‘I’m a player where I see things and when I see things I like to just move around. Sometimes obviously I like to stay in my position but just little moments I like to drift and try to help the team to get the ball up the pitch.’
Often painted as a brash and overconfident, Sancho insists the image portrayed of him couldn’t be further from the truth. Indeed, he suggested that his shyness contributed to his United struggles with Dortmund’s family club ethos a huge factor in his upturn in fortune.
He added: ‘I’m a type of person that I don’t like making new friends. I’ve got a big thing on trust – it’s hard for me to trust people.
‘But I think growing up in South [London], that’s what you’re just taught, it’s like one big family … That’s why I feel like I connect so much with Dortmund.
‘It’s kind of crazy, you know, I don’t think anyone would have expected this – me being in the Champions League final, especially where I came from. I’m just happy.’
Sancho’s long-term future, meanwhile, remains uncertain but a United exit is the likely outcome should Ten Hag remain in charge and an apology not be forthcoming.
Asked why Sancho refused to say sorry to his manager, the now former United coach Benni McCarthy told 947.: ‘I spoke to the manager and I said to him that you know the delicacy,’ former Premier League forward McCarthy, who took on a coaching role at United in 2022,
‘I told him I think Jadon feels that if he apologises then he’s going to be classed as someone who doesn’t train hard, that doesn’t work hard and that everything that was said against him was true.
‘If you are from the streets, no one wants to apologise because then you’re admitting you are not training well, you are lazy, everything you are accused of.
Jadon wasn’t going to have that. The manager just said that all he wants is an apology.’
The ex-South Africa star added: ‘I spoke to Jadon as a coach, as a mentor, as a friend, and as someone who grew up on the streets and knows the code.
‘But Jadon just wasn’t seeing it. He said, “I ain’t apologising because if I do, I’m apologising for being lazy, always being late, not giving my best. That’s what I’m apologising for”. And those were his reasons.’
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