Erik ten Hag comments on Jadon Sancho after winger’s controversial departure

Jadon Sancho’s return to Borussia Dortmund was confirmed earlier this week and the 23-year-old has already hit the ground running back in the Bundesliga.

Sancho was named on the bench in Dortmund’s trip to SV Darmstadt on Saturday evening and made headlines with his second-half cameo. That was Sancho’s first appearance since coming on against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford in August last year.

A public feud with manager Erik ten Hag followed that game, with the tricky winger banished from first-team training for over four months.

It was becoming increasingly clear that the only way out of the mess he had created for himself was for Sancho to leave and restart elsewhere.

Now, ahead of United’s first game since Sancho’s departure, Ten Hag has been asked whether an apology from the player would have made any difference.

"Had he publicly apologised to you, would there have been a different outcome?"

Erik ten Hag answers questions on what went wrong for Jadon Sancho at Manchester United 🔴 pic.twitter.com/WdhHT1mxpT

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 14, 2024

“He’s now at Dortmund and so after he was signed, before one year, there were issues,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports.

“We have had issues all the way through so you can make out he’s staying here at Manchester United, so far, he is not a success.”

“So now he’s going back to Borussia Dortmund and I wish him the best of luck. We hope he does really well there and be successful and then we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

When quizzed further on the feud between the pair, Ten Hag responded when asked whether a public apology would have made a difference.

“Yeah, but we have said that before,” he said. “And I don’t know, every time, to return to the point. He knows what he should do and we have made that clear. It was also so clear and obvious about his performance so let’s stop this discussion. He’s at Dortmund and we wish him the best of luck.”