By Ed Carruthers and Jim Van Wijk, Pa
14:28 16 Jul 2024, updated 14:34 16 Jul 2024
- Erik ten Hag has broken his silence on Jadon Sancho’s Man United future
- Sancho had returned to Man United last week following his loan at Dortmund
- LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off! EUROS DAILY: Why did Gareth Southgate’s side look so exhausted?
Erik ten Hag has broken his silence over Jadon Sancho‘s future at Old Trafford after the winger returned to Carrington last week following his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund.
The 24-year-old had been exiled by Ten Hag after the pair fell out over the Dutchman had hit out at the England star’s training performances, claiming they were sub-par.
Sancho had then hit out at his manager on social media, claiming he was lying about his performances in training, ultimately refusing to apologise and subsequently being frozen out of the first team.
But it seems, after a period away from the club, Ten Hag and Sancho are ready to bury the hatchet and fears that the £77million star could seek a permanent move away from the club have been allayed for now.
Though Sancho had not part of the cohort of United stars who travelled to Trondheim to play against Rosenborg, he has been back in training after seemingly having resolved his differences with Ten Hag.
‘As we said, we draw the line,’ Ten Hag said on Sancho following his side’s 1-0 defeat by Rosenborg.
‘Manchester United need good players and Jadon is a good player. We have drawn that line and we move on,’ he added.
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Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, though, were all in the starting line-up at the Lerkendal Stadion, along with veteran defender Jonny Evans.
With Rosenborg already in league action, the hosts were far sharper than United, and Czech goalkeeper Radek Vitek was forced to make a string of saves while winger Marius Broholm twice struck the United woodwork.
Ten Hag made the expected sweeping changes for the second half, replacing all 10 outfield players with academy products.
However, it was Rosenborg – having earlier again hit a post – who eventually made the breakthrough when Noah Holm tucked in a late winner during stoppage time.
United are set to face Rangers at Murrayfield on Saturday before then heading out to the United States to step up preparations for the new campaign ahead of the FA Community Shield against rivals Manchester City at Wembley on August 10.
Ten Hag expects a much-improved display for their next pre-season run-out.
“The result is not secondary. Of course, we play pre-season, but at Man United the standard is you win games and definitely don’t lose games,” the Dutchman said on MUTV.
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“So if you can’t win, don’t lose the game, like we did in the last second of the game, but of course, the performance is more important and the performance was below standards.”
Ten Hag, who recently signed a contract extension until 2026, added: “We can talk (about) everything that is bad, but I am not that guy.
“I have seen and this is not the standard for top football. Top football, you have to achieve much higher standards, starts with any individual, make sure you are fit.
“I know we can’t be match-fit in this moment, I know you need these games. The opponent is (playing already) in the league, so they have a much higher fitness level – but we are Man United and should perform better.”