'It looks like revenge' - Erik ten Hag told to 'put his ego aside' in Jadon Sancho stand-off as Louis Saha slams Man Utd boss for treating £72m winger 'harshly'

• Sancho continues to be exiled
• Ten Hag yet to allow winger in first team training
• Saha demands Ten Hag to keep aside his ego

WHAT HAPPENED? Sancho was notably left out of the Manchester United squad that faced Arsenal in an early September match, which the team lost 3-1. After this exclusion, the England international refuted claims through an Instagram post that he was dropped from the squad due to subpar performances in training. He accused his manager of making him a 'scapegoat' for the team's poor start to the season as he felt unfairly targeted for the team's struggles.

Following these events, Sancho has been excluded from first-team action and has been banned from using all senior team facilities including the canteen at Carrington with his food being brought to him across the walkway that links the academy and senior facilities.

Former United player, Saha has hit out at Ten Hag for his treatment towards Sancho and suggested that the treatment "is not right".

WHAT THEY SAID: "The Sancho situation could have been handled better for sure," he said while speaking to BettingOdds.com.

"Of course, Sancho has responsibility but the manager does too and he needs to help him. Everyone is losing in this current situation and ten Hag has to put his ego aside now. This treatment is not right, it looks like the manager is trying to get revenge to show he has the power.

"If you want big stars playing for you at United, you have to help them express their personality. When they make mistakes, you have to give them a platform to say sorry instead of treating them so harshly. Jadon is a great player and of course, he has made mistakes and hasn’t performed, but now the manager has the responsibility to help him fix this.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Saha also came down heavily upon the manager for United's lacklustre performance in the Manchester derby which saw them go down by a 3-0 margin to their eternal rivals.

“There is definitely a sense that the fans are losing belief at United," he said.

"The fans expect you to show fight and they need to see you challenge in games like this. We didn’t see the energy or the aggression required to compete in a derby game and they lacked spirit. That falls on the manager and the fans made sure that was understood. The players need to understand it’s not good enough. Ten Hag needs to be bold but sometimes recognise his own mistakes and admit to them. His decisions have an impact and he got some wrong against City and he should be criticised for that.”

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WHAT NEXT? It's been speculated that United could look to sell Sancho in the January transfer window, possibly due to the ongoing issues and the desire to reshape the squad. They return to action against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday but the winger will likely remain out of action.