Ten Hag praises Sancho after Dortmund win
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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag offered enthusiastic praise for Jadon Sancho following Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old England winger is on loan from the Red Devils following a falling out with ten Hag in the fall.
“[Wednesday], he showed why Manchester United bought him and why he represents a high value for Manchester United,” ten Hag said. "That is good. I'm happy for Jadon, with his performance yesterday. We'll see what is going to happen in the future."
A native of South London, Sancho joined United from Dortmund in 2021 in a £73 million move. In September, Sancho was left out of the United squad for a 3-1 loss to Arsenal. After the match, ten Hag said it was because Sancho didn't look good in training that week. Sancho issued a since-deleted tweet in response, claiming that he was being made "a scapegoat" and denying his manager's account. After refusing to apologize for the post, Sancho was frozen out of the first team and allowed to leave on loan.
In 17 games across all competitions for BVB, Sancho has three goals.
Ten Hag also used his media availability ahead of Monday's match with Crystal Palace to dispute reports that the team is set for a massive summer clearout.
"It’s a joke," ten Hag said of the report. “As long as I’ve worked, every summer, every window, I think 200 players [were supposedly] getting interest from Manchester United – we did some research – which was untrue and also every summer we sell all of the players in our squad, which you make all of the headlines [about] which is untrue. Be calm and take some responsibility when you make such a headline. Find a good source [and only report] if there is some truth in it. This is totally crap."
United currently sits sixth in the table on 54 points with four matches remaining on the season. The Red Devils will meet Manchester City in the FA Cup Final for a second consecutive season on May 25.