Ex-Man Utd man names Serie A star needed to replace Sancho amid rumours of an ‘attacking firesale’

Mikael Silvestre thinks Manchester United need to buy Federico Chiesa as soon as possible if they allow Jadon Sancho to leave Old Trafford.

Sancho came off the bench in the Red Devils’ first three Premier League matches before Erik ten Hag unexpectedly dropped him from their squad for the 3-1 loss at Arsenal in early September.

Ten Hag insisted that Sancho had been dropped because of his poor displays in training with the Man Utd winger subsequently posting on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” for their poor early-season form.

Sancho eventually deleted the post but he is still refusing to apologise to Ten Hag with the Man Utd boss making him train away from the first team.

He is not allowed to use any of the first-team facilities and it now looks likely that Sancho will leave Man Utd in January with little prospect of a resolution that would see him continue his Old Trafford career under Ten Hag.

And former Man Utd defender Silvestre reckons Juventus winger Chiesa would be a great replacement but doubts the Red Devils will be able to afford a deal until the summer.

READ MORE: Time to change the narrative around Ten Hag. Manchester United are the Prem’s form team, FFS…

Speaking to Bettingexpert.com, Silvestre said: “I don’t think there is going to be any changes before next summer in terms of United’s wingers.

“Chiesa is a very good player. I like him a lot. He can play out wide and centrally but I don’t expect United to be active in those positions.

“United need their defence to return from injury and make sure the squad is full.

“Maybe if Sancho leaves then United will look to replace him but it’s not an easy market.”

There were reports at the end of last week that incoming Man Utd investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to oversee an ‘attacking firesale’ with Sancho, Anthony Martial and Antony all up for sale.

But former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole thinks Sancho could still be an asset at Old Trafford if they provide him with the right “nurturing and help”.

“Jadon Sancho needs nurturing. Jadon is a fantastic footballer particularly with the talent and quality he’s got, but he needs a little bit of nurturing and he might need a bit more maturity,” Cole told TNT Sports.

“He’s clearly a young player with a heck of a lot of talent. In this current guise I can’t see how it can be [resolved]… Well, I can, but that would require movement from both parties.

“It’s not going to work for him at Manchester United and I don’t know what his next move is, but there’s still a player in him.

“I would love to speak to him and his people and try to help. If I was a young coach I would take Jadon Sancho and fancy I could get the best out of him.

“Give me Sancho as a manager every day of the week, rather than a ham-and-egg player – that’s an old phrase – but a player of that quality needs a little bit of nurturing and help.”