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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is already having to firefight on multiple fronts and it has only been four games into the new Premier League season.
The squad is crumbling due to injuries in key positions while the team have failed to overcome their away day blues even in the current campaign.
If that was not enough, now a spat has erupted between Jadon Sancho and the manager after Ten Hag revealed that the winger’s training performance did not merit a call-up to the matchday squad against Arsenal.
ETH-Sancho spat
That prompted the Englishman to put out a social media statement, blaming the manager for making him a scapegoat and mentioning that there were other reasons behind the snub.
The player’s camp indicated that the manager tends to give preferential treatment to his former Ajax protege Antony and that is why Sancho has failed to garner more minutes.
Ten Hag does not take kindly to indiscipline and multiple former players have said that such an act would not have been tolerated at Old Trafford during Sir Alex Ferguson’s regime and that the winger could be sold to a Saudi Arabian club.
The Peoples Person had reported that an unnamed club from the country had indeed sent a formal offer to the Red Devils and now as per CBS Sports, Al-Ettifaq are set to launch an 11th hour bid for the United star.
“Steven Gerrard’s club hope that a fresh start in Saudi Arabia can tempt Sancho to depart Old Trafford, at least temporarily, and have opened discussions over a deal that would take the 23-year-old to the Pro League for the remainder of the season.
“Al-Ettifaq would be open to including a buy option in the deal but given that the Saudi window closes in less than 12 hours, sources with knowledge of negotiations believe it is more likely that the clubs will agree on a straight loan deal.”
Saudi deal dead because of permanent clause
However, as per The Athletic and The Daily Mail, it is unlikely that United will allow Sancho to leave, especially considering what might happen to Antony in the future.
Interestingly, Chris Wheeler in his article mentioned that the deal is “dead” mainly due to the fact that the Saudi club cannot afford to pay the amount to make the deal permanent.
“But although United were prepared to let the 23-year-old join Ettifaq on loan for the rest of the season for free, the deal included an obligation to buy him for £50 million which the Dammam-based club simply couldn’t afford.”
This just highlights the fall from grace Sancho has experienced at United since his £73 million move from Borussia Dortmund two years ago.
United are even ready to take a hit on their initial expenditure despite the player’s obvious potential in order to get rid of a player who is causing disharmony in the squad.
