Jadon Sancho has called Erik ten Hag’s claim he was left out of Manchester United’s squad to face Arsenal due to poor performances in training “completely untrue”.
The England international, 23, wasn’t part of the travelling party for Sunday’s Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium.
Midfielder Scott McTominay also missed the 3-1 defeat with illness.
Ten Hag revealed afterwards that Sancho isn’t injured and his selection was down to his displays during training as the squad prepared for the trip in the week.
“Scott is ill,” the Dutchman said. “Jadon was on his performance on training we didn’t select him. 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.”
Sancho, however, appeared to disagree with his manager’s assessment.
Posting on social media on Sunday evening, Sancho called on people not to “believe everything you read” before suggesting he had been made “a scapegoat for a long time”.
He wrote: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week.
— Jadon Sancho (@Sanchooo10) September 3, 2023
“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, l’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!
“All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”
Marcus Rashford was dropped to the bench by Ten Hag for the Premier League game away at Wolves last season after the England international forward had overslept and missed a team meeting.
He went on to come on as a half-time substitute and score the winner in a 1-0 win at Molineux.
Prior to Sunday, Sancho had played in all three of United’s Premier League games this season – coming on as a substitute in each – with his last outing coming against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, August 26.
He joined United in an initial €85million deal from Borussia Dortmund on July 1, 2021 and has gone on to make 82 appearances in total for the club, scoring 12 goals.
United return to action following the international break at home against Brighton & Hove Albion.
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(Photo: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
