Romano reveals key to Jadon Sancho ‘chance’ at Man Utd as Ten Hag ‘feelings’ crucial
Fabrizio Romano has explained the key to Jadon Sancho remaining at Manchester United beyond the summer after the winger’s return to the squad for pre-season.
Sancho took to the field in a Manchester United shirt for the first time in 11 months in Saturday’s 2-0 pre-season friendly victory over Rangers in Edinburgh.
It was the first time United fans have seen Sancho since he patched up his differences with manager Ten Hag following their breakdown in relations last season.
The 24-year-old spent the second half of last term on loan at his previous club Borussia Dortmund after claiming on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” following criticism from the United boss.
This was Sancho’s first outing in Manchester red since a substitute appearance in the 3-2 home win over Nottingham Forest on August 26 last year.
He continues to be linked with moves away having been particularly impressive in Dortmund’s Champions League run last term, but there have been no concrete offers for his services according to Romano, who claims Sancho’s decision to clarify things with Ten Hag shows there is hope he may remain under the Dutchman at Old Trafford.
“There’s a chance for Jadon Sancho to stay at Manchester United – a lot will depend on the next weeks,” Romano told Caughtoffside.
“Pre-season, feelings with the manager, performances…he has chances to stay. Interest from other clubs remains but there have been no official bids so far, so it’s still quiet.
“Sancho’s decision to clarify with Erik ten Hag also shows how they can be ready to continue together, but it depends on what happens in the next weeks.”
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The situation with Sancho is one of many off-field problems Ten Hag has had to deal with in his two seasons at United, and in a recent interview having been handed a one-year extension to his contract, the manager said Ralf Rangnick – who claimed the club needed the equivalent of open heart surgery – was right all along.
“Rangnick was absolutely right. We’ve been working very hard on that for two years, but he said it just right: it’s a thorough, very complex operation,” Ten Hag said.
“And I knew when I started that it was going to be a tough job. There are a lot of people who have advised me. Louis van Gaal [the former United manager] too. We want this club back to where it was more than a decade ago, to a club that wins the Premier League, which can win Champions Leagues. We are really a long way away from that, I think.
“I think we’ve taken steps since then, otherwise we wouldn’t have won two prizes [the FA Cup and Carabao Cup] either. But we are not yet so far that a ‘winning culture’ already prevails here in all respects. Our standards, our norms and values, still need to go up.
“I was not shocked [by what I inherited]. But the culture, the mentality was really not good. To win, to really achieve top performance every week, we had to change a lot.”
