Manchester United chiefs John Murtough and Richard Arnold have been forced to step in to try and de-escalate the dispute between Erik ten Hag and Jadon Sancho, according to reports.
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There are huge question marks over the 23-year-old’s future at Old Trafford under Ten Hag after he publicly refuted his manager’s claims regarding his performances in training.
Sancho was not included in United’s matchday squad to face Arsenal before the international break, with Ten Hag citing the winger’s less-than-impressive showings in training as the reason.
But the former Borussia Dortmund attacker was clearly livid with his manager’s comments and posted a message on social media platform X – formerly known as Twitter – disputing Ten Hag’s version of events and saying he was being made a ‘scapegoat’.
Sancho has now deleted his post and the pair held clear-the-air talks when he reported to Carrington on Monday, but it appears the situation is still not resolved.
According to the Daily Mail, the dispute is proving rather complicated and both football director Murtough and CEO Arnold are taking an active role in trying to resolve the issue.
Murtough is playing a particularly prominent role in trying to de-escalate tensions while Arnold is being regularly updated on the progress of talks, but so far there is still something of an impasse between player and manager.
Although Sancho removed his social media post – which was viewed as the first step towards a resolution – the matter is still rumbling on and it remains to be seen whether the winger will be involved against Brighton on Saturday.
Despite Antony being on a leave of absence and a host of players having been away on international duty, there is no guarantee that Sancho will be back in the matchday squad.
There is thought to be a degree of sympathy for Sancho with United not receiving approval from the player to go public with his mental health battle and there was concern behind the scenes when Ten Hag publicly remarked about his ‘mental’ fitness.
Murtough and Arnold are hopeful that the dispute will be settled but the fact they have been drawn into the issue underlines the depth of the rift between Sancho and Ten Hag.
The United manager will speak to the media on Friday at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Brighton with Sancho set to be the primary topic of conversation.
In the wake of Ten Hag saying his performances in training were not at the level required, Sancho had tweeted: ‘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! All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team.
‘I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!’
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