Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov has become the latest club luminary to call upon Jadon Sancho to apologise to Erik ten Hag after their bombshell falling out, claiming that the young winger is ‘overestimating his importance’.
The 23-year-old lit the touchpaper on a growing discontentment between player and coach as he told his social media followers ‘don’t believe everything you read’ in response to Ten Hag’s suggestion that Sancho had not been named to the squad to face Arsenal due to ‘performances in training’.
The former Borussia Dortmund player claimed that his manager’s verdict was ‘completely untrue’ and that he was being made a ‘scapegoat’, and in response, Ten Hag has not only frozen the player out of his side but banned him from using first-team facilities.
Ex-United defender Roy Keane was among the first to call on Sancho to relent, imploring the player to ‘show some humility’.
And fellow Sir Alex Ferguson disciple Berbatov appears to be of a similar mindset.
Dimitar Berbatov believes that Jadon Sancho is ‘overestimating his importance’ at Man United
The 23-year-old’s relationship with his manager has broken down, perhaps permanently
‘If it continues like this, Jadon Sancho going to go nowhere at the club,’ the forward said in conversation with Betfair. ‘I’m very disappointed that a situation like this has been made public and a lot of people are discussing it. Things like this happen often, but they’re not made public.
‘Players will fight with their managers, players, club staff, or even themselves, but it’s not often made public. When it’s connected to a big club like United, then people will talk about it and interpret it differently.
‘In this case, Sancho has been there for over two years and it’s still not working out for him. Sancho must know this, too, and maybe that’s where his dissatisfaction is coming from. When you know you’re not producing, you can be angry with yourself and your manager and this can lead to a bust-up like this.’
Sancho joined the club from Dortmund in a marqee £73million move in 2021 but has struggled to live up to the promise shown in Bundesliga.
In his 82 appearances, the player has scored just 12 times, registering six further assists.
Berbatov was resolute that ‘the manager makes the decisions’ at a club like United, adding that problems would undoubtedly arise ‘if Sancho doesn’t apologise to Ten Hag publicly or privately and understands his mistake the right way.
‘Once he’s done that, he needs to earn his place in the team – and the only way to do that is by training harder and playing well when the chance arises.’
But Berbatov had a pessimistic prognosis for the feud’s resolution, and continued: ‘Sometimes a player, and I hope this isn’t the case for Sancho, who takes this long to resolve conflict has overestimated his own value to the club. When it’s (Cristiano) Ronaldo, it’s different as he’s achieved everything.
‘I was at the club when Wayne Rooney had a fallout with the manager, and they sorted things out. I think Sancho is overestimating his importance. He’s not won that many trophies with them. It’s a different situation.
‘United can easily decide to get rid of Sancho over this. As talented as he is, and we all saw it at Dortmund, he has yet to show any of this at United. We can only speculate why that is, maybe it’s his surroundings or the people who he’s around.
‘Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t agree with the manager. If this drags on anymore, I can’t see it getting better and it’s best to part ways.’
Erik ten Hag is taking a ruthless approach to the management of his young player in the wake of the falling-out
Sancho (pictured in July) has been banned from first-team training and use of their facilities
In the wake of the falling out, Sancho deleted the social media post, and on Tuesday, deactivated his Instagram account, but there are suggestions that the breakdown of relations between Sancho and Ten Hag could be terminal.
After United’s 3-0 Carabao Cup victory against Crystal Palace, Ten Hag refused to be drawn on the topic of his out-of-favour winner, stating that he will never talk about players ‘who are not available’.
Man United could yet prepare the player for sale in January, but his former club Dortmund are thought to be unwilling to set up a reunion due to reservations over his sleep schedule.
As reported on Wednesday, there are concerns in the German club that Sancho stays up too late playing video games or on his computer, and there have previously been eyebrows raised over the player’s timekeeping.
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