Ten Hag is getting sick of €85m Man Utd flop

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 Apr 2023 00:12 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is understood to be getting increasingly disillusioned by big-money signing Jadon Sancho.

The young Englishman arrived at Old Trafford in 2021 with big expectations after enjoying some impressive campaigns out in Germany at Borussia Dortmund where he linked up with Erling Haaland to incredible effect.

Sancho took the plunge to make the surprising move from Manchester City's academy to Germany - a path not well-trodden at that point - and the gamble paid off big time with him eventually returning to the North West, albeit signing for the red side of Manchester, in an eyebrow-raising €85 million move.

READ: Osimhen, Kane or Kolo-Muani? Ten Hag ‘sold on’ Man Utd’s next No..9

Since then, however, injury struggles and a lack of form have hampered any consistency the 23-year-old had hoped to attain. Indeed, this season, Sancho has featured in just 26 games, scoring five goals and merely recording one assist.

Ten Hag between a rock and a hard place

In order to improve Sancho's fortunes, Ten Hag has experimented with the winger a tad this term, occasionally playing him in a somewhat unfamiliar ten role. It made sense given Sancho's skill set and the way United want to play, but it didn't have the desired effect.

"I think," said club legend Paul Scholes in a recent Youtube interview, "he has played in the middle at times as a No.10 and I really don't see him in that position; I see him on the left-hand side, really. But Marcus [Rashford] has been in top-quality form out there."

This leaves Ten Hag between a rock and a hard place: do you shoehorn an out-of-form player in your side or do you leave €85m rotting on the bench? Against Newcastle, Sancho came on as a substitute, but he had no impact.

READ: Man Utd put FIVE players up for sale as Ten Hag gets 'ruthless'

In light of this, the Manchester Evening News is now reporting that "Ten Hag is becoming increasingly impatient with Jadon Sancho, who has started five times in the last five months." You can't blame him, and it might be time for Sancho to leave to get his career back on track.