With all the news surrounding Jadon Sancho and Antony this week, these are “corner flag photo” times at Manchester United. By that we mean, the cliched photo choice that always accompanies a club statement about a serious matter- the club crest flag on the corner of the pitch.
Whenever the news is bad, the club media relations break it out, and often, media outlets follow suit.
Here is one example above, and we’ll have another shortly, after the next block of text. Sancho got left out last weekend, and after the match he publicly called out his manager, Erik ten Hag, on Twitter.
Jadon Sancho has left that tweet, in which he claimed Ten Hag was lying about the reason for his exclusion, pinned to the top of his official page.
Now his future with the club remains very uncertain, as a last minute loan move to the Saudi Pro League collapsed on Thursday, the Saudi Arabian transfer window deadline day.
Now he’s set for “showdown talks” with his manager tomorrow. That is according to a report in The Telegraph, which claims that on Monday, “Ten Hag is due to speak face-to-face with Sancho for the first time since player’s public outburst.
Sancho remains a United player, but he hasn’t been a part of the club’s plans thus far this season.
Additionally, there have been reports that the rest of the squad has “had enough” of him. There have been claims that he has had attitude issues pretty much everywhere that he has gone, throughout his career.
The English international, acquired from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 for close to $100 million, has not performed at all, and apparently he’s lost the dressing room too.
We’ll see what happens with these showdown talks, but it is definitely desperado times at the last chance saloon for the attacking midfielder and Manchester City academy product.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.