2
Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho has somewhat risked being the subject of ridicule after his latest comments about the professionalism and incredible work ethic of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sancho completed a loan move to Borussia Dortmund earlier this month after failing to resolve his bitter spat with Erik ten Hag.
The England international was banned from training with the senior squad and accessing all first-team facilities after effectively branding his manager a liar on social media.
Ten Hag told reporters on September 3 that Sancho was axed from the matchday travelling party that made its way to London to take on Arsenal due to his poor performances in training.
In response, Sancho issued a strongly-worded statement on X (formerly Twitter), accusing Ten Hag of making him a scapegoat. The player has never featured for the Red Devils since. It’s understood that he was offered multiple chances to issue a public apology to the Dutchman and his coaching staff but he refused.
It subsequently emerged that behind the scenes, things with Sancho were not all rosy, even before his public fallout with Ten Hag.
Reports emerged suggesting that the 23-year-old was repeatedly late to training sessions and team meetings. It was even relayed that Ten Hag took the initiative of tailoring a personalised schedule for Sancho to help him with his time-keeping but this did not bear much fruit.
Since returning to Germany with Dortmund, Sancho has looked like a player reborn. He registered an assist on his second debut for the Signal Iduna Park outfit.
In Dortmund’s most recent Bundesliga clash vs. Koln, the winger won a penalty but was denied the chance to take it by Niclas Füllkrug.
As if unaware of his own shortcomings that led to his acrimonious departure from United this month, Sancho granted an interview to Dortmund’s club media and waxed lyrical about Ronaldo’s professionalism and how the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rubbed off on him.
Sancho and Ronaldo signed for United in the same window, with the Portuguese great sealing a return to the Theatre of Dreams more than a decade after leaving for Real Madrid in 2009.
Sancho said, “A great professional. He’s [Ronaldo] obviously one of my role models growing up.”
“I just love his mentality and I think for every young player who was there at the time he was there, definitely learned that to be at the top, you have to train like you’re playing every day.”
“Even in the gym, even the recoveries. Sleep is important. Seeing him and playing with him, it was a dream come true because watching YouTube clips of him it’s definitely inspirational.”
Almost ironically, Sancho added, “I’m thankful for him and everything he’s taught me.”
Sancho could have definitely used some of the lessons Ronaldo “taught” him to save his United career while he was still at the club.
