‘It’s actually grating on me’ – Ferdinand demands ‘clarity’ over struggling Man Utd star

Joe Williams
Rio Ferdinand speaks about Man Utd

Rio Ferdinand wants “clarity” on why Jadon Sancho has been absent for Man Utd and insists the Red Devils “need him right now”.

The Red Devils have returned from the World Cup break with back-to-back wins over Nottingham Forest and Wolves.

Those results have put Erik ten Hag’s men into the top four of the Premier League, two points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.

Alejandro Garnacho had a good first half against Wolves but was taken off at half-time for Marcus Rashford, while Antony was criticised for his poor performance at Molineux.

Sancho has underperformed since his £72m move from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 and he’s been working on his own individual fitness programme in recent weeks.

On Sancho’s situation, Ten Hag recently said: “Sometimes there are circumstances with fitness and mood. We got a drop of quality level and sometimes you don’t know why or what is causing it.”

The England international, who is missed out on the World Cup due to poor form, has not made a matchday squad since the break but Ferdinand thinks Man Utd “need” the winger back fit and firing.

“Jadon Sancho is an interesting one man,” Ferdinand said on the Vibe with Five YouTube channel.

“He’s gone away and he’s doing personal training somewhere. I don’t know what’s happened or what’s behind all this. I don’t know what it is.

“Is he not fit or is it mental? What are they seeing at United? It would be nice to get that clarity.

“Listen, Jadon Sancho is a south London boy so I care about him and want him to do well. But he hasn’t hit the ground running at Manchester United, for whatever reason. I don’t know why.

“United actually need him right now, they need another player because the depth on the bench isn’t great.

“Sancho would add to that but he needs to come back and be the Sancho we saw at Dortmund, the Sancho that got people off their seats.

“I watched an old video of Sancho the other day and he was tearing it up against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. That’s the Sancho I expected to see at United.

“I wanted him to come to the Theatre of Dreams and say: ‘This is my home, I’m going to own this place.’ We just haven’t seen that yet and it’s actually grating on me as to why. I need to know why man.”

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