Jadon Sancho banished by Manchester United after refusing to apologise to Erik ten Hag

Jadon Sancho is training away from the Manchester United first team after he refused to apologise to manager Erik ten Hag, The Athletic can reveal.

The 23-year-old will now work away from team-mates at United’s academy facilities as the club look to resolve what they refer to as “a squad discipline issue” after his public outburst on social media following the Premier League game with Arsenal earlier this month.

Sancho said he had been made “a scapegoat for a long time” after Ten Hag had earlier claimed Sancho wasn’t selected in the matchday squad for the 3-1 defeat due to his performances in training.

The England international was subsequently asked to apologise to the manager but refused to do so, which has now resulted in the club taking action.

United declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.

Sancho has effectively been banished from first-team training and will not now be considered for selection, beginning with the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion to Old Trafford on Saturday, until there is a resolution.

A club statement on Thursday read: “Jadon Sancho will remain on a personal training programme away from the first-team group, pending resolution of a squad discipline issue.”

Ten Hag said after the trip to the Emirates Stadium on September 3 that Sancho’s omission from the squad was down to his displays in the week running up to the game.

“Jadon was on his performance in training we didn’t select him,” he said. “You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United, you can make choices in the front line, so in this game he wasn’t selected.”

Sancho later responded on Twitter, saying: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week.

“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!

“All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”

United were open to selling Sancho to Saudi Arabia before their transfer window closed last week but the player declined to engage and instead flew to New York for a break.

Before the Arsenal match, Sancho had featured in all three of United’s Premier League fixtures with his most recent appearance being against Nottingham Forest on August 26.

Sancho joined United in an €85million deal from Borussia Dortmund in July 2021 and has since made 82 appearances for the club, scoring 12 times.

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(Photo: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)