MEET & GREET
Man Utd have held meetings with Jadon Sancho in shock bid to bring him BACK to club next season despite Ten Hag fallout
Ten Hag insisted another player is "happy" at the club despite suggesting they may leave
MANCHESTER UNITED have met with Jadon Sancho in a bid to bring him back to Old Trafford next season.
The £73million signing was farmed out on loan back to his previous club Borussia Dortmund after falling out with Erik ten Hag.
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But the manager says that meetings have taken place with the winger and United staff have been in Germany monitoring his games.
Ten Hag said: “We are close in that process. We are visiting games where Jadon was performing.
“We had a visit with him, we talk with him and we will keep going with this process.”
Meetings have taken place with now departed Director of Football John Murtough and Director of Player Negotiations Matt Hargreaves.
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Sancho fell out with Ten Hag last September after he was dropped for the away defeat at Arsenal.
Afterwards the boss explained his absence for his poor attitude in training.
The player later put out a social media posting effectively calling his manager a liar.
While he took that post down, he refused to apologise to Ten Hag for what he did.
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He was banished from the first team and made to train on his own and with the academy players, before finally being allowed to leave on loan.
His poor form at United has since been at odds with his performances back at Dortmund, where he made his name, not least in last weeks 1-0 Champions League semi-final first leg win over PSG.
Five things you didn't know about Jadon Sancho (2)
Now Ten Hag wants to put their differences behind them after this season has finished.
He said: “There was a conflict and let’s first finish the season so stay away from this issue, now it is not important.
“He has the return of the semi-final, in the league it is not going that well for them and we have four important games in the league and the FA Cup final and then we will see.”
Clearly Ten Hag is already looking ahead to what the make-up of his squad will be going into next season, believing he will still be the boss.
He admits he needs greater depth after being left exposed by a raft of injuries this season.
He said: “That is one of the issues in constructing the squad. We have to construct a squad better, with more depth.”
Pundits verdict on Ten Hag's future
Where do the pundits stand on Erik ten Hag's Manchester United future
Jamie Carragher - Sacked
"I don't see how Erik ten Hag stays. It's just performance after performance."
Gary Neville - Stay if he wins the FA Cup
"To sack a manager who’s won two trophies in his first two seasons at the club I think would be extreme."
Louis Saha - On the fence
"I don't see it as clearly but they need changes from the players but they need changes from him as well."
Alan Shearer - Sacked
"I believe the future of the Man Utd manager is already determined. Even if they win the FA Cup I think he's gone."
There is a certain type of player he is looking for, as well.
He said: “I think every manager wants winning attitudes.
“Great mentality big personalities to perform under stress is what every manager is looking for. In this club it is extremely important to perform under stress.”
A player he most definitely wants to keep is captain Bruno Fernandes who hinted in an interview last week that he will consider his future at United after this summer’s Euros.
He said: “That was taken out of context. I know he is Manchester United and he is very happy to be here.”
Ten Hag says his skipper is an example to the other players particularly those not prepared to play through the pain barrier.
He said: “Bruno is a real fighter. Last year for instance when we played Brighton in the FA Cup semi final, he played with an ankle that was so thick, unbelievable,
“Bruno is a very good example for other players.”
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United travel to take on Crystal Palace tonight without Harry Maguire.
He has sustained a muscle injury that will keep him out of the last three league games but could make the FA Cup Final and the England international will be ok for the Euros.
Man Utd are ‘dynamic and entertaining’… but not in a good way, says Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
MUCH guffawing when Erik ten Hag proclaimed his Manchester United side as “one of the most dynamic and entertaining teams” in the Premier League after a 1-1 home draw with Burnley.
But I agree with him.
This season I’ve watched live as United beat Liverpool and Wolves 4-3, drew 3-3 with Coventry and Galatasaray and lost 4-3 at Bayern Munich and Copenhagen.
I also watched on telly as they were beaten 4-3 at Chelsea.
As a neutral, I can’t remember seeing any team involved in quite so many mental matches during the course of one season.
The problem is Ten Hag isn’t there to produce chaotic entertainment for the likes of me, he’s there to make Manchester United successful and make their fans happy — which is an entirely different metric.
Read Dave Kidd’s full column here
Or click here to check out all of Dave Kidd’s articles.
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