What is going on with Sancho at Man Utd? Ferdinand calls for ‘clarity’ as Red Devils ‘need’ England winger

• Winger dropped by Ten Hag
• Forced to train on his own
• No competitive minutes since October

WHAT HAPPENED? The England international winger was dropped from Erik ten Hag’s plans at Old Trafford during the recent World Cup break, with the 22-year-old left out of a Spanish training camp as he was forced to work away from the rest of the Red Devils squad. No reprieve has been offered since then, with Sancho not “in the right fitness state”, but Ferdinand feels fresh light needs to be shed on a saga that is doing nobody any favours.

WHAT THEY SAID: The former United defender has told his Vibe with Five YouTube channel: “Jadon Sancho is an interesting one. He’s gone away and he’s doing personal training somewhere. I don’t know what’s happened or what’s behind all this. I don’t know what it is. Is he not fit or is it mental? What are they seeing at United? It would be nice to get that clarity. Listen, Jadon Sancho is a south London boy so I care about him and want him to do well. But he hasn’t hit the ground running at Manchester United, for whatever reason. I don’t know why.

“United actually need him right now, they need another player because the depth on the bench isn’t great. Sancho would add to that but he needs to come back and be the Sancho we saw at Dortmund, the Sancho that got people off their seats. I watched an old video of Sancho the other day and he was tearing it up against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. That’s the Sancho I expected to see at United. I wanted him to come to the Theatre of Dreams and say: ‘This is my home, I’m going to own this place’. We just haven’t seen that yet and it’s actually grating on me as to why. I need to know why.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Sancho registered just five goals and three assists during his debut season at Old Trafford in 2021-22, with little return delivered on United’s £75 million ($90m) show of faith in the transfer market.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Sancho made a brighter start to the current campaign, netting three times through his opening eight appearances in all competitions, but has failed to find the target since then and – having been left out of England’s 2022 World Cup squad – has not featured at all for United since October 22.