LOS ANGELES, California — Outwardly, at least, there has been little sign of the turmoil during preseason that had engulfed Jadon Sancho’s career for the best part of a year.
Arriving on a golf buggy for training at UCLA’s Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Friday afternoon, he was smiling and joking with Marcus Rashford. And while other teammates have been battling jet lag at the start of Manchester United’s preseason tour on the west coast of America, Sancho has been sleeping soundly. One member of the traveling squad couldn’t believe that he’d managed to sleep for almost the entirety of the 11-hour flight from Manchester to LAX, and then enjoyed a full eight hours on Wednesday night once the team had landed.
It’s a very different mood to September 2023, when Sancho hit out at manager Erik ten Hag in an explosive social media post that led to a banishment from first-team facilities at Carrington for more than four months. It was followed by a hastily arranged loan move to former club Borussia Dortmund in January and a successful return to Germany, which ended with a Champions League final appearance against Real Madrid at Wembley in June.
For now, though, Sancho is back at United. He wouldn’t be in California at all had it not been for clear-the-air talks with Ten Hag earlier this month, a surprising development given the rift had shown no signs of thawing over the course of the preceding 10 months.
The official explanation is that Sancho has been reintegrated into the squad after “reflecting on past issues,” and that Ten Hag has agreed to draw a line under the matter and move on. It’s not clear whether the Dutchman got the apology he had initially demanded, with sources only prepared to say that there has been a softening on both sides.
Ten Hag was asked about the situation at a news conference in LA on Friday, saying only that: “We need good players, and he is a very good player.”
There’s no doubting Sancho’s talent, and he showed it with a stunning performance in the Champions League semifinal first leg against Paris Saint-Germain in May. But what is less clear is whether or not he can do it under the intense glare of the United spotlight.
So far, his three-year spell at Old Trafford has amounted to a huge disappointment. After finally arriving in a £73 million deal in 2021 following a two-year pursuit, he’s shown flashes in his 58 Premier League appearances, but not much else.
Mark Ogden and Stewart Robson react to Man United’s interest in Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui.
Part of the issue has been his position. At the time of his transfer, United sources were keen to explain that he’d been signed to play on the right wing — a problem position for the club over a number of years. Sancho, however, prefers to play on the left where United already have Rashford.
The problem hasn’t gone away, either; in fact, it’s only become more pronounced. Rashford still wants to play on the left, as does Alejandro Garnacho. Garnacho is on an extended break after going to the Copa America with Argentina, but with Sancho and Rashford in training at UCLA on Friday, both were making a point to the watching Ten Hag.
In two seven-on-seven sessions run by new assistant coach Rene Hake, Rashford and Sancho were on different teams and both took up positions on the left. Sancho occasionally drifted inside, but Rashford stood as wide as possible, attacking his defender before cutting in on his right foot to shoot.
Rashford was picked on the left for the friendly against Arsenal at SoFi Stadium on Saturday and set up the goal for Rasmus Hojlund with a clipped pass over the top. Sancho replaced Rashford at half-time and was quiet, except for confidently stepping up to score the winning penalty in the shootout at the end of the game.
United had been open to offers for Sancho before his return and despite his reinstatement into the first-team squad, that remains the case. There’s a theory that part of Manchester United’s motivation to bring him back was that a player in exile depreciates in value far quicker than one who is an active part of the squad and, at the very least, Sancho is staying fit and training at a high standard.
The problem is that United’s valuation of around £40m has, to date, deterred the majority of suitors including Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. Dortmund would love to have him back, but only on loan, and as things stand, United aren’t prepared to consider another temporary move, particularly one that would require paying a large portion of his wages. Whether their stance changes the closer it gets to Deadline Day remains to be seen, and it might be determined by how long the truce with Ten Hag lasts.
The ideal outcome for United is that the rift is healed and Sancho begins to consistently show the form that convinced the club to make him their fourth most expensive signing ever. If that happens, Ten Hag will be sleeping as soundly as Sancho next season.