'Annoying' Man Utd winger Jadon Sancho needs to be dropped

FT Desk

• 24 Oct 2022 17:15 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United star Jadon Sancho is frustrating his team-mates with his poor performances, according to ex-Aston Villa man Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Sancho earned a lucrative move to United in the summer of 2021 after shining as a youngster at Borussia Dortmund.

So far, though, the forward has struggled to live up to expectations and has been in and out of the Red Devils line-up having netted just eight times in 52 appearances in all competitions.

The 22-year-old has shown signs of reaching his true potential this term as he has enjoyed a more sustained run in the first team under Erik ten Hag.

Agbonlahor is still not convinced, though, and believes that three of his team-mates in particular have reason to be annoyed with Sancho.

'How many chances will he get?'

“I just want to speak about Sancho because when I watch Man United I look at Antony, I look at [Marcus] Rashford, I look at [Bruno] Fernandes and they look like they want to take a player on and want to do something and take responsibility in the attacking third,” he explained to talkSPORT.

“Sancho, he gets the ball and passes it backwards. If I was Luke Shaw I’d say ‘stop passing it back to me, I’m giving you the ball so take someone on’.

"At Dortmund he was doing it every week. His confidence is that low, does he feel like he doesn’t have the speed or the trickery to get past someone?

“He’s being brought off after 52 minutes for Fred. Fred was unlucky not to start because he did very well last game but it just shows that they’ve had to play Fernandes up front for the last 35 minutes, Rashford went to the left and Antony stayed on the right because Sancho can’t perform.

“How many times do you have to play him? If you’re Ronaldo you’re probably thinking ‘how many chances is this guy going to get?’

"Elanga, how many times is Sancho going to get the chance to play for Manchester United because he’s not performing and he’s a million miles away from a chance to play at the World Cup.”