Former England and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole claims that he knows how Jadon Sancho and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag can overcome their dispute while also unlocking the winger’s potential.
The feud in question started when Ten Hag decided to exclude Sancho from the matchday squad set to face Arsenal on September 3rd.
While Ten Hag made it clear that the 23 year old was omitted due to his poor performances in training, Sancho refuted this claim, taking to social media to defend his performances while claiming to have been made a scapegoat at the club.
The former Borussia Dortmund player has since refused to apologise to the United manager or make amends, prompting Ten Hag to exclude Sancho from first team training and even barring him from accessing all first-team facilities.
Yesterday, Sancho was removed from United’s first-team WhatsApp Group which is used to send key updates to all first-team players.
With the player continuously refusing to make amends, the situation has become so severe that Sancho is expected to leave United in January.
United have reportedly approached several clubs in an effort to offload the player, including Real Madrid.
Even though Sancho’s England teammates including Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, and Harry Maguire allegedly failed in their reported attempts to convince him to apologise to Ten Hag, Cole believes that he could indeed remedy the situation.
Cole believes that in order to overcome the dispute, both Sancho and the club need to reach a compromise.
“Jadon Sancho needs nurturing,” Cole commented, adding, “Jadon is a fantastic footballer particularly with the talent and quality he’s got, but he needs a little bit of nurturing and he might need a bit more maturity.”
While Cole admitted that things likely won’t work out for Sancho at United, he went on to say that he would like to speak with the 23 year old and his camp in an effort to guide him through this rough patch and get him back to his best on the field.
Given the history of player fallouts at United, with that of Cristiano Ronaldo still lingering in recent memory, Sancho’s talent alone may not be enough to save his career at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag would do well to remain firm on his stance and send a clear message as to what happens to players who choose to step out of line at United.