Ten Hag kicked 'special player' out of Man Utd

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 6 Oct 2024 13:48 BST
• 4 min read

Erik ten Hag kicked out a "special player" when he sold Jadon Sancho to Chelsea, according to Benni McCarthy.

The England international's Manchester United nightmare came to an end on an 11th-hour Deadline Day loan deal this summer.

The 24-year-old had been desperate to leave Man Utd as he was out of the plans of manager Erik ten Hag, who he had endured a very difficult relationship with.

Chelsea signed Sancho on an initial loan that is almost guaranteed to become permanent for €25 million to €30m next summer. The west London side will automatically sign Sancho long term if they finish higher than 15th in the Premier League.

That looks a certainty as both Sancho and Chelsea have made a strong start to life this season.

Sancho assisted a goal on his debut in the 1-0 win over Bournemouth and has impressed in all three of his appearances for Chelsea, with an assist in all three wins.

Former Man Utd first-team coach Benni McCarthy, who worked with Sancho at the club from 2022 to 2024, says that Ten Hag have sold a special player.

What did McCarthy say?

“[He’s] a great boy, great character, fantastic footballer, unbelievable the things that he can do,” McCarthy said on the On The Whistle podcast.

“For me, it was a real shame that it didn’t work out for Jadon at United, because I thought he was the type of player that that would flourish in a United shirt. But unfortunately, I think lack of communication and understanding, I think was part of the downside that didn’t end up working with Sanch.

“He’s closer to home because he did sneak out to come to London quite a lot. So probably the fact that he was missing home, and, just wanted to be a bit closer to to family and friends and his culture.

“The London culture is quite strong, so I think Jadon maybe wanted more of that. So that’s why he kept on. He was in London quite a lot.

“Now he is closer to home, so hopefully he can find that peace, he can find that bit of magic that that he found when he went to Dortmund, and he gets the love that he deserves from the coaching staff, the players.

“I think he will turn out to be a special player again. Because I think every single one that knows Sancho that would want him to be at that level, because it’s good for world football.”

Sancho troubles at Man Utd

Sancho joined Man Utd from Dortmund for €85 million in the summer of 2021.

But he was a major disappointment at Old Trafford.

He scored just 12 goals in 82 appearances for United and was regularly a bench player during his time at the club.

Earlier last season, Sancho was frozen out of the squad at Man Utd.

It came after manager Erik ten Hag criticised Sancho publicly for his poor performances in training, which was followed by the winger essentially calling his manager a liar on social media.

Sancho was not called up again after this incident and was barred from training with the first team, as well as using their facilities and canteen.

Sancho was also deleted from the team’s WhatsApp group by Ten Hag.

United transfer listed him and then sent him on loan to Dortmund in January where he rediscovered some of his form and helped the club to the Champions League final where they lost to Real Madrid.

He subsequently joined Chelsea this summer and he has had a good start.