'Scapegoat' Sancho contradicts Ten Hag regarding Manchester United bench role

Jadon Sancho warms up for Manchester United in a pre-season friendly against Athletic Club in August 2023.

Will Sancho play for United again?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho has taken to social media to contradict his manager Erik ten Hag regarding his absence in Sunday's Premier League clash away to Arsenal.

Sancho was left out of the team to face the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium, with the former Borussia Dortmund attacker not even on the bench for the trip to north London.

After United's 3-1 defeat, Ten Hag told reporters that the 23-year-old had not done enough during the week to earn a place in the squad.

"On his performance on training we didn't select him," Ten Hag said when asked about Sancho's absence.

"You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front line, so in this game he wasn't selected."

Clearly annoyed by those remarks, Sancho took to Twitter to give his version of events in a short statement.

"Please don't believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue," he wrote. "I have conducted myself in training very well this week.

"I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't get into, I've been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair!

"All I want to do is to play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team."

And he added: "I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!"

United saw a late Alejandro Garnacho effort ruled out by VAR on Sunday and ended up with nothing after Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus struck for the Gunners in added time at the Emirates.

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Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.