The arrival of Jadon Sancho to Manchester United was met with much fanfare.

A staggering £73 million was spent to get the promising teenager from the Bundesliga to the Premier League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called him a “pivotal” player for United’s future before his arrival, which culminated a two-year search by Old Trafford authorities. The club quickly saw him become one of its top earners.

Sancho scored 38 goals and dished out 51 assists in 104 league games for Borussia Dortmund. Sancho scored twenty goals and dished out twenty assists for the German club in the 2019/20 season, making him one of only seventeen players in this century to accomplish this feat.

The bar was set rather high at his new team.

That’s why Sancho has been so dissatisfied with his time at Old Trafford.

Almost from Superhero to Zero

Statistically, the English forward’s output has dropped off a cliff. It would take him over seven complete seasons of Premier League play to replicate his record at Dortmund (9 goals and 6 assists in 58 league appearances).

Sancho has often appeared shy while wearing a United jersey. The winger appears to be struggling under the enormous expectations placed upon him by playing for one of the most successful clubs in the world.

There have been issues with Sancho’s work rate and intensity throughout his time at United.

The Athletic have produced a lengthy breakdown of the winger’s first two seasons at Old Trafford, discussing a variety of off-field concerns that may have contributed to Sancho’s on-field struggles.

Problems with Teething

The beginnings of Solskjr’s rule were promising.

A “good attitude” was cited as an early positive trait in Sancho. He took the coaches’ suggestions seriously and worked hard to reach a “high level of fitness.”

This promising start for Sancho, however, would soon unravel due to the general degradation of the club.

United’s start to the 2021/22 season was terrible under its Norwegian management. Solskjaer was fired in November after a string of disappointing results culminated in a 4-1 defeat at Watford.

Ralf Rangnick, who was brought in as an interim coach, praised Sancho’s contributions to the team. Sancho arrived at the club at the end of the same transfer window as Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Portuguese forward was anxiоus that the German use a different method.

Ronaldo pushed for a two-man striker system, which would force Sancho to the bench, at a closed-door discussion with a few of the more seasoned members of the club. Rangnick countered that Sancho’s recent hоt streak (two goals in three games) should be allowed to continue.

Mike Phelan, who was still coaching when Rangnick was at United, recently gave an interview in which he stated that Ronaldo frequently butted heads with some teammates over their standards and professionalism. Phelan argues:

“…[Ronaldo] hoped that other people’s expectations would rise. And when that happens, inevitably some people get left behind. There were instances when he really put forth an effort but didn’t receive much of a response from anyone. And there was anger and annoyance.

It’s not hard to understand how a kid like Sancho, who has been dogged by attitude problems for years, could attract Ronaldo’s ire.

Even when Sancho was performing at the top of his game for Dortmund, his off-field antics were called into doubt. Sancho’s poor time management was cited as an example of his “quite childish and unprofessional with little things” by a source close to the German club.

Oversleeping meant that Sancho missed a lot of practice and team meetings. Edin Terzic, Dortmund’s assistant manager, had to start knocking on the winger’s door to wake him up in time for practice.

In the wake of Lucien Favre’s departure in December 2020, Terzic would be elevated to the position of manager. He instructed the coaching staff to pay “special attention” to Sancho with a sharp increase in the winger’s fitness and form the result.

Terzic also placed the Englishman as close to new signing, Erling Haaland, as possible, both on and off the pitch. The coach wished for Haaland’s professionalism and intensity for the game to rub off on his less-mature team-mate.

The cost of having a player of Sancho’s caliber revealed by another Dortmund insider:

“Jadon would go through some really good spells and some really bad spells, There’s a world-class player there. But he’s a real pаin in the neck.

‘A lot of work’ which a player like Ronaldo seemed unwilling to put in if he felt the effort was not being rewarded. Given the Portuguese’s preeminent role within the United dressing room at this point, particularly with a manager with the lack of authority of Rangnick, it’s easy to envision Ronaldo’s opinion having significant sway.

Ten Hag’s Cultural Reset

The remainder of the 2021/22 season was an abject disаster.

The club acted quickly to move on from Rangnick’s disastrоus tenure with Erik ten Hag announced as the new manager in April 2022, taking the helm at Old Trafford once the season had ended.

During his first few days in Manchester, the Dutchman was quick to strеss every player would begin with a fresh slate under his stewardship, the ills of last season forgotten.

This should have constituted music to the ears of Sancho. A new manager armed with an attacking style football, who employs a dual-winger system and values skill and technique in his forward line. Ten Hag’s demands of exemplary work-ethic and work-rate should also have been warning signs to a player who fallen foul of these standards in the past however.

Sancho began life under his new manager brightly.

A regular in the starting eleven, the winger returned 3 goals in 8 games and appeared to be an important component of Ten Hag’s new-look United.

Yet, by October, Sancho’s campaign had ground to a halt. Within a month, the 23-year old had deleted all of his social media and been removed from the United squad.

The Midseason Break

Under the direction of Ten Hag, Sancho went to Holland to work under coaches recommended by the Dutchman. The winger was left out of United’s warm-weather training camp in Spain during the World Cup break to allow him to continue this individual programme.

United’s official statement on this choice read as follows: “Jadon Sancho is continuing his individual training programme as part of a process to get back to his highest level. The club is fully supporting him in this.”

Ten Hag, however, revealed with typical Dutch honesty, Sancho was working on “mentаl fitness” in Holland.

He did not have the player’s blessing to reveаl this reportedly, with figures at United believing it a potentially inappropriate way to talk about a player in public. It would have been problematic to invent a physical problem to explain the winger’s absence, however, while offering no explanation would only have caused speculation to grow.

Sancho returned to the first-team squad at the beginning of February, three months after his last inclusion. He came off the bench in a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup, before scoring a crucial equaliser as a subtitute against Leeds in the league a week later.

Ten Hag was effusive in his praise for his returnee:

“He’s all the way back. We know he’s a magnificent player. I think consistently he can have a big impact. But he has to work hard. He is a brilliant footballer and if he can invest in the right levels he can be outstanding.”

Falling Out of Favour

Sancho would make 25 appearances after his return, suggesting the midseason reset had worked.

His reintegration into the team included the starting berth in the FA Cup Final against bitter rivals, Manchester City; a match which held significant importance for United given City’s advances in other competitions.

The Athletic describes Ten Hag as “disappointed” with Sancho’s performance however.

During United’s American pre-season tour a few months later, the Dutchman was again asked about his winger’s position within his squad. “…he has to get more consistency in his performance but he has to do it at a higher level,” Ten Hag revealed.

This marked the beginning of a new standard of expectation upon Sancho from his manager.

The previous year, Ten Hag and his coaching staff would set his schedule an entire hour earlier for the winger than the rest of the squad, in a bid to get Sancho to arrive on time. This worked for a while before Sancho “fell into similar patterns.” Patters which would not be allowed to continue in the Dutchman’s second year.

Ten Hag reportedly feels he has gone above and beyond in his duty of care to the winger. He recognises Sancho’s prodigious talents and has made every effort he can to help the 23-year old apply them on the pitch. There is a sense the Dutchman feels it is up to the Englishman to do his part now.

Which is why Sancho’s actions in the immediate aftermath of the disappointing 3-1 loss to Arsenal would have been so hurtful to his manager.

Public Petulance

Sancho has begun life this season on the bench.

He was deployed as a false-nine during United’s pre-season and performed well, suggesting he was a potential option up front for United at the beginning of the season. Both Rasmus Højlund and Anthony Martial were ruled out with ιnjury, necessitating a deputy centre-forward in their place.

Ten Hag opted for Marcus Rashford up top, with Alejandro Garnacho on the left however. The 19-year-old Argentine trusted ahead of his 23-year-old team mate.

Sancho did come on in United’s first three games from the bench and offered his usual glimpses of talent interspersed with large periods of anonymity.

He was not even included on the bench, however, for the trip to the Emirates.

When reporters enquired about Sancho’s conspicuous absence after the match, Ten Hag gave a terse reply. He was omitted from the squad to “his performances in training,” the manager revealed.

Not an ιnjury. Not an issue with mentаl health. Not even a tactical choice. Sancho simply hadn’t trained well enough in Ten Hag’s eyes to be included.

The Athletic’s report indicates this was par for the course at present. Ten Hag has reportedly become “exasperated” with Sancho’s punctuality and approach to training. It’s a pattern of behaviour many of his team-mates have become equally frustrated with, sharing the concerns of their manager.

Rather than allow for a moment of personal reflection, however, Sancho immediately responded on X (formerly known as Twitter) with a combative message:

“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!”

Ten Hag is said to have been left “bitterly disappointed” by Sancho’s public outburst.

The Aftermath

Old Trafford officials moved quickly to support their manager’s assessment, with United prepared to sell Sancho should a suitable offer arrive from the Saudi Arabia or Turkey – two countries whose transfer windows were still open. A fee of £65 million was considered adequate to secure his services.

The Saudi Pro League expressed tangible interest, although this was immediately refuted by Sancho’s representatives. The Athletic believes the winger gave zero indication of being “open to a move.”

The pair had a meeting on Monday to discuss the situation. Reports suggest it was not successful with no resolution being reached. Sancho did delete his infamous tweet on Tuesday, however, which may function as the slimmest of olive branches.

Given the confluence of off-the-field allegations levelled at United’s two best options on the right wing – Mason Greenwood and Antony – there is a significant gap in that position at present. A gap Sancho should be positioning himself to fill and solidify as his own.

Instead, the winger whose talent is only surpassed by his inability to apply it, is too busy flying to New York to party with basketballers and checking social media, rather than knuckling down and fulfilling his potential at Old Trafford.