There is a new chief communications officer at Manchester United but the club still has a tendency to pick dubious times to bury good or bad news.
A club staff member leaked news that Erik ten Hag would be staying at gone 10pm on a Tuesday night. Jadon Sancho‘s unexpected return to training was announced at 5.30pm on Friday.
Sancho was pictured in training on Thursday yet United waited until the graveyard slot to press publish. Workplace attentiveness is at a weekly low on Friday afternoons and evenings and it is the absolute trough for the news cycle.
The Thursday return date would have been very deliberate. The morning after England reached the European Championship final and no photographers lurking at the Carrington security barriers. When Sancho returned after his public outburst in September, he attempted to conceal his face.
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Club sources say Sancho reflected on past issues in his meeting with Ten Hag, the pair agreed to draw a line and move on. United’s focus is for Sancho to take a full part in pre-season.
United refused to, or could not say, if Sancho had apologised to Ten Hag for accusing him of lying. Or whether he would be kept or sold.
Had Sancho apologised for his incendiary post on X, formerly Twitter, that he pinned to his page, then he would not have been banished to the academy building, where he had to get changed in a locked room for safeguarding reasons.
Now it’s over to you, Erik. Just like last season, Ten Hag will have to field probing questions on Sancho. This is unfair on Ten Hag, who was in an invidious position often enough during Sancho’s exile.
Ten Hag tired of Sancho-related questions and did not refer to him by name until he rejoined Borussia Dortmund on loan. Ten Hag then enthusiastically highlighted Sancho’s increasing value.
United’s refusal to provide clarity and the reintegration of Sancho raise several unanswered questions. Ten Hag will be able to address some if journalists in Trondheim are afforded time with him on Monday. If not, then there are press conferences scheduled at UCLA during the pre-season.
A club keeping a manager and extending his contract should banish any uncertainty. It has had the opposite effect. Now Sancho has been ushered back into the fold.
From the outside, it appears the manager’s authority is eroding again. Or, at the very least, there has been a climbdown from Ten Hag that is not in keeping with his disciplinary methods.
Ten Hag restored total authority to the United manager’s role two years ago. To jeopardise that for a flaky player who simply does not have the mentality to succeed at United is a hierarchical failing.
The notion that United are stuck with Sancho does not wash, either. Mason Greenwood is going. Sancho, at the age of 24 and a recent Champions League finalist, is an eminently sellable or loanable asset. Albeit not at the £40m United were seeking.
Many comparisons with United AD (after dominance) and the United of Sir Alex Ferguson are moot yet backing a manager over a player should be non-negotiable. Ferguson made an exception with Wayne Rooney after he fluttered his eyelashes at Manchester City in October 2010 though their alliance was an uneasy and turbulent one over the next two-and-a-half years. And there was still success.
Much will happen between now and United’s first Premier League fixture against Fulham in 34 days. Perhaps Sancho will have been sold by then. If he is somehow in the squad for that Friday evening kick-off, his reception will be fascinating.
The singing section, the hub of the atmosphere at Old Trafford, can be unpredictable. Their send-off for Anthony Martial after the final home game of last season was as bizarre as when they booed an injured Dean Henderson on his return with Crystal Palace. Paul Pogba was repeatedly told to “F**k off” on his last appearance at the ground.
Sancho said Dortmund was “home”. The home comforts are clearly not snug enough for him to drop his salary demands. Also-rans Dortmund have also changed their tune.
“You all owe him an apology, we were ALWAYS familiar with his game.” their X account boasted in May after Sancho excelled against Paris Saint-Germain. Dortmund assigned the number ten Sancho donned to Julian Brandt on the day Sancho returned to Carrington.
Maybe that was good news and bad news.