The five worst moments of Sancho’s disastrous Man Utd career

James Shearman

• Updated: 11 Jan 2024 13:02 GMT
• 4 min read

Jadon Sancho's disastrous Manchester United career looks to be over now that he has secured a loan return to Borussia Dortmund.

The Englishman arrived at Old Trafford with lofty expectations in the summer of 2021, having excelled in Germany, but he never came close to meeting them.

Indeed, his £73 million move will go down as one of the worst signings in football history.

FootballTransfers takes a look at five miserable moments that defined Sancho's time in Manchester.

'They call me 007'

Sancho made a poor start to life at Man Utd, failing to register a single goal or an assist in his opening seven games.

This prompted Sky Germany to make a graphic involving Sancho dressed as James Bond alongside the words 'they call me 007'.

Bearing the brunt of a humiliating viral joke just weeks after signing set the tone for the rest of his spell in England.

Public spat with Ten Hag

While Sancho's form was always disappointing, it was his lack of discipline that ultimately cost him his United career.

After the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in September, Erik ten Hag revealed: "Jadon wasn’t picked [today] on his performance in training. You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. That’s why in this game he wasn't selected."

Sancho later took to Twitter to reply to Ten Hag's comments: "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!"

This was the beginning of the end for Sancho, who would not play another minute of football under Ten Hag.

Training alone

As a result of his social media outburst, Sancho was made to train on his own by the Dutch boss.

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

Ten Hag would not allow the 23-year-old to integrate at all with the first team, whether it be on the pitch or in the canteen.

Playing EA Sports FC before Champions League game

Sancho was heavily criticised for playing video game EA Sports FC less than two hours before United's Champions League game against Bayern Munich.

The ex-Man City youngster appeared to be playing the game mode 'Pro Clubs' alongside Roma striker Tammy Abraham.

It was certainly not a good look for Sancho to be playing virtual football rather than actual football ahead of an important match for United, which they lost 4-3.

Saudi Pro League had no interest

As Sancho looked to find a move away from Old Trafford, Saudi Pro League director Michael Emenalo revealed that he was not interested in signing the winger.

"We don't want to be regarded as a dumping ground for players that didn't work [out] in other clubs," he told Sky Sports.

This was an especially damning statement as Cristiano Ronaldo and Alex Telles previously moved to Saudi Arabia after being released by United.