Man Utd have Jadon Sancho problem after Erik ten Hag shares concerns

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag will be desperate to get Jadon Sancho firing on all cylinders over the coming months in order to maintain the 22-year-old’s hopes of making the most of his sky-high potential at Old Trafford. Sancho joined the Red Devils from Borussia Dortmund last summer for an initial fee of £73million after a long and drawn-out negotiation process that lasted for over a year.

The England winger has failed to live up to expectations over the course of his time in Manchester, though, and faces the very real threat of becoming United’s next high-profile flop if he fails to get back to his best as a matter of priority. Sancho hit a new low earlier this week when it was revealed by Ten Hag that he had been placed on an individual training schedule due to a lack of physical and mental fitness to mark the latest unfortunate twist of his ill-fated United spell to date.

Sancho’s lack of impact at Old Trafford has been reflected in the depreciation of his market value, which has fallen by exactly £34.4m since joining United last year, according to Transfermarkt. He is now said to be worth around £51m, which many would not have expected at the time of his move to the Red Devils and only serves to illustrate his rapid decline over the last 18 months.

It will now be crucial for Ten Hag to put his man-management skills to good use in order to help Sancho to rediscover the form that established him as one of Europe’s most feared young prospects while at Dortmund. He clearly has no shortage of natural ability and is still more than capable of emerging as a world-class player in the future but will need all the assistance he can get from Ten Hag as he looks to put things right over the coming weeks and months.

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The last thing Sancho will want is to become the latest big-name player to fizzle out at United by following in the footsteps of Alexis Sanchez, Angel Di Maria and Romelu Lukaku. There is still plenty of time for Sancho to reverse his fortunes and steer clear of being known as an expensive flop, but things will need to change quickly in order to prove to Ten Hag that he can be a valuable asset for the Red Devils for years to come.

The United boss said earlier this week that he has no idea when Sancho will be ready to return to first-team duties but insisted that he is doing everything in his power to help the forward as opposed to writing him off and hanging him out to dry.

“I have had several talks with Jadon,” said Ten Hag, who has also made use of a coach he worked with in the Netherlands to help Sancho get through his individual training schedule. “He’s on a physical programme and our aim is to get him back as quickly as possible, but I can’t give a prognosis of when that will be.”

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Ten Hag also suggested that Sancho’s omission from the England squad for the World Cup may have been partly responsible for denting his confidence, but was quick to admit that Gareth Southgate was left with little choice as a result of the ex-Dortmund man’s stuttering form at club level.

“When you don’t show it week by week you can fall out of the squad, which is what happened,” added the Dutchman. “When the league started he played some good games, but after we got a drop of levels. Sometimes you don’t know why or what is causing it.

“Most of the time it comes slowly. First you observe but the stats back it up. In the start of the season he had goals and assists but his key moments and key actions became less and less, it’s a combination of physical but also mental. We’re trying to research and get him back.”

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