Manchester United’s “legendary defender” Rio Ferdinand has criticized Jadon Sancho for his lack of discipline in training.
Speaking on his YouTube channel on Thursday (April 4), Ferdinand said: “Sancho may think he trained well, but the manager may think differently. There are two ways to end this. There are two ways to end this: move to Saudi Arabia or sit on the bench for the rest of the season,” he said, criticizing Sancho.
After spending three seasons in Germany with Borussia Dortmund between 2017 and 2020, scoring 38 goals and providing 51 assists in 104 league appearances, Sancho joined United ahead of the 2021-22 season for a world-record transfer fee of €85 million. Many United fans had high hopes for him, as he was dubbed the best talent in England, and he was highly touted as a key player in the club’s “rebuilding” of their once great reputation.
However, Sancho’s performance did not live up to his huge transfer fee. After scoring five goals and providing three assists in 38 appearances in his first season, Sancho disappointed with seven goals and three assists in 41 games in 2022-23, and to make matters worse, he suffered from mental issues and finished the season on a dismal note. As with last season, he has started three league games this season, all as a substitute, and has yet to register an attacking point.
Then an unexpected issue came up. He had a falling out with coach Eric ten Hagg. After the game against Arsenal on April 4, when asked why Sancho was left out of the squad, Mourinho said, “Sancho was not selected because of his performance in training. At Manchester United, you have to reach a certain level every day to be selected. That is why he was not selected.”
However, Sancho quickly refuted the claims. In an official statement, Sancho said, “Don’t believe everything you read. I will not allow people to go around saying things that are not true at all. I trained very well this week,” he refuted.
He continued, “I believe there are other reasons for this issue. But I’m not going to go into detail about those reasons. For a 먹튀검증 long time I have been the scapegoat, which is not fair. All I want is to be happy playing soccer and contributing to the team.”
Ferdinand also weighed in on the friction between Ten Haag and Sancho. “I’m sure there’s clear evidence that Coach Ten Haag hasn’t been training well, and I’m sure Sancho wants someone to tell him that his training has been good to back up his claims,” Ferdinand said. “To end this situation, he should either move to Saudi Arabia in the remaining transfer window or spend the rest of the season on the bench.”