‘He’ll be gone’ – Pundit insists Man Utd star has ‘had enough’ after public Ten Hag lambasting
Former Premier League striker Darren Bent thinks that Jadon Sancho has decided ‘enough is enough’ at Manchester United, with a departure now inevitable.
The winger publicly hit back at Erik ten Hag after the manager suggested that his performances in training did not warrant inclusion in Man Utd’s squad to face Arsenal last weekend.
On social media, Sancho posted that he had been ‘a scapegoat for a long time, which isn’t fair’ and that all he wants to do is ‘play football with a smile on my face.’
According to the Daily Mail, Sancho and Ten Hag held ‘showdown talks’ on Monday, with his long-term future at Old Trafford in doubt.
This came after Saudi club Al Ettifaq made a late move to sign the 23-year-old, but were unable to agree on a fee with Man Utd.
Barring a move to Turkey, whose transfer window shuts on Friday, Sancho appears to be set to remain with the Red Devils until January at least.
Bent believes, however, that the England international has ran out of patience and wants to leave Man Utd as soon as possible.
“If he had the intention of staying at Manchester United, of wanting to stay at the club, or had a burning desire to stay, you do it in-house,” Bent said on talkSPORT.
“You go to the manager’s office and you say, ‘look, I don’t really like what you did there. If my training standards are not good enough, then just tell me.’
“I’m sure he’s told him before and then we will try and deal with it. But the fact he went public tells me he wants out of there. He’s had enough.
“Maybe the challenge is too big for him, which is a shame because he’s got a lot of ability, he’s got talent. Maybe the Premier League is too quick for him.”
Sancho signed for Man Utd in 2021 for a fee of £73m. The winger has never lived up to his price tag, scoring just 12 goals and making six assists in 82 appearances so far.
This is in stark contrast to his time with former club Borussia Dortmund. There, he netted 50 goals in 137 matches, as well as making 64 assists, and was considered to be one of the best young wingers in the world.
Last December, Ten Hag revealed Sancho would be unavailable for a period of time due to ‘physical and mental’ factors as he contended with injury issues.
Ten Hag sent Sancho to train alone in Holland under the close eye of coaches the Dutch manager ‘trusted.’
As noted by the Daily Mail, Man Utd did not have permission to go public with Sancho’s fight against mental health difficulties at the time.
Bent added: “Ten Hag has given him every possible opportunity by the way, by sending him away to try and get himself fit. He’s come back and it hasn’t worked.
“That tells me he’s thinking ‘enough’s enough, get me out of here.’
“I’ve never liked managers coming out and criticising their players publicly because it never ends well. I think about [Jose] Mourinho with [Paul] Pogba, Mourinho with Luke Shaw.
“I never think it ends well, it ends ultimately with someone leaving the club, sometimes the manager.
“But the relationship – you never, ever get that player back. Now it’s going to be extremely hard for someone like Jadon Sancho to get himself back to the level that he was at, because we haven’t seen it yet.
‘Now it almost looks like to me that he’ll be gone.’
