Erik ten Hag: 'Jadon Sancho's time at Manchester United plagued by issues'

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has said that "there were issues" throughout Jadon Sancho's time at the club, with the attacker now back on loan at Borussia Dortmund.

The 23-year-old fell out with Ten Hag after he was left out of the squad for the clash with Arsenal at the start of September, with the Red Devils manager claiming that poor performances in training had cost the forward a position in the selection for the game in North London.

Sancho insisted that was not the case, claiming that he had been made "a scapegoat", and having refused to apologise to his manager for the public outburst, the Englishman was removed from the first-team picture.

The forward returned to Dortmund on loan last week, and he made his second debut for the club on Saturday, coming off the bench to provide an assist in a 3-0 success over SV Darmstadt 98.

Sancho will spend the rest of the season with BVB before heading back to Old Trafford, and there have been suggestions that his career with the Red Devils is not necessarily over.

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Ten Hag has said that Sancho "had issues all the way through" his time at Man United, admitting that the forward has struggled to make his mark for the 20-time English champions.

"He's now at Dortmund. So after he was signed, one year before [I was here], and there were issues. We have had issues all the way through, and so you can make out his stay at Manchester United so far is not a success," Ten Hag told Sky Sports News.

"So now he is going back to Borussia Dortmund, so I wish him the best of luck. I hope, we all hope he is doing well there, he will be successful. Again, we will see what is going to happen."

When asked whether an apology would have seen Sancho brought back into the squad, Ten Hag added: "We have said that before. And I don't want every time to return to the point.

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"He knows what he should do and we have made that clear. It was also so clear and obvious about his performance so let's stop this discussion. He is to Dortmund and we wish him the best of luck."

Sancho has a contract at Old Trafford until June 2026, and his situation will be assessed at the end of the season, although a return under Ten Hag will be incredibly difficult.

The forward scored 50 goals and registered 64 assists in 137 appearances for Dortmund ahead of a move to Man United, but he has only managed 12 goals and six assists in 82 matches for the Red Devils.

Sancho is yet to start a game this term, as he featured off the bench in Man United's opening three matches of the 2023-24 campaign before being named as a substitute for Dortmund at Darmstadt, entering for the final 35 minutes of that contest, setting up Marco Reus for BVB's second of the clash.