Why is Jadon Sancho not playing for Manchester United and when can he play again? England star set for first-team break

Jadon Sancho’s move to Manchester United hasn’t worked out for either party and things look bleak.

The England star has failed to hit the heights he showed at Borussia Dortmund, and now he’s set for an extended first-team break.

Sancho’s time at Man United looks to be overGetty

The 23-year-old has been disciplined by his club, and they were even willing to sell him to Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

So what’s going on and when could he return? talkSPORT.com takes a look…

Why is Jadon Sancho not playing for Man United?

Sancho’s absence stems from comments made by Erik ten Hag in the aftermath of the Red Devils‘ 3-1 defeat to Arsenal before the international break.

The winger wasn’t included in the matchday squad, and Ten Hag said that it was because of Sancho‘s performances in the build-up to the game.

He said: “Jadon, on his performance in training, was not selected.

“You have to reach a level at Manchester United every day and we can make choices in the front line. So for this game, he was not selected.”

This provoked an angry Twitter message from the forward in which he called out his manager for making him a scapegoat.

The post read: “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!”

Sancho has since deleted the post that Marcus Rashford liked@MarcusRashford

Sancho pinned his tweet to the top of his profile for his 2 million-plus followers for over a week.

But he ultimately deleted the post and was asked to apologise to Ten Hag.

It’s been suggested that Sancho refused to apologise to the Dutchman, something that’s not been denied by Man United.

talkSPORT understands a meeting between the pair didn’t go as hoped or expected, with the club announcing on Thursday he will train away from the first-team squad for a period.

And as a result, he’s set to be sidelined from first-team action.

In a statement, the club said: “Jadon Sancho will remain on a personal training programme away from the first-team group, pending resolution of a squad discipline issue.”

This could be the end of the line for Sancho at Old Trafford

When will Sancho return?

In Man United’s statement, they don’t specify a time frame.

Instead, he will be absent until this ‘squad discipline issue’ is resolved’.

And given the problem is due to the 23-year-old not apologising about his social media post, he won’t play until he says sorry to Ten Hag.

Even if he does apologise, there is no guarantee that Ten Hag will elect to include him in the first-team squad.

The club tried to sell him to Saudi Arabia before the Saudi Pro League’s transfer window closed, but they couldn’t find an agreement.

However, January could see Premier League clubs and other European sides come in because Sancho is a special talent and will be in demand.

Sancho faces a fight to save his Man United careerGetty

Jadon Sancho: What has been said?

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara has revealed he feels sorry for Sancho.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing to him.

“I know he’s come out and made a statement, whether that was the right thing to do or not… but was it right of Ten Hag to dig him out when he wasn’t even involved with the group?

“We all know Jadon Sancho needs to be better on the football pitch. And how he does that is getting him back playing football, getting him training and enjoying his football.

“What they’re doing to him right now is never going to get Jadon Sancho back to his best. All you’re going to do is mentally damage the football player and make him feel worse than he already does.

“I had it at Wolves. It is the worst feeling ever. You get ostracised from the group, you get made to feel that you’re not wanted, like you mean nothing to anyone and it is depressing.

“It made me depressed going through it and I’m sure Jadon Sancho is struggling right now, he’s already had mental health issues.

“If Manchester United can come out and say they’re mental health ambassadors and they do all this stuff about mental health around their group and community and then do that to their own player, they should be ashamed of themselves.”