Lee Sharpe claims Man Utd star has played his last game with 'decision' due

One former Manchester United star believes there is a player at his old club who will never represent the club again. Erik ten Hag has had a colourful spell in charge of United so far, securing a top four finish last season but struggling to build on it so far this term.

Off the pitch, Ten Hag has battled criticism aplenty amid disappointing runs of form during his time in charge, but he has also made some bold decisions that have split opinion among fans. One of the biggest decisions was to freeze out £70million signing Jadon Sancho after a rather public fallout between the two.

Ten Hag told Sancho he would not be involved in first team activities again until he apologised, and the winger never did. To ensure all involved could save face, Sancho returned to former club Borussia Dortmund on loan in January, and if he doesn't stay there beyond this season, it will be interesting to see where things go in the summer.

According to former United man Lee Sharpe, Sancho does not have a way back at United under Ten Hag. “With the way the manager has treated the situation, I don’t see a way back,” Sharpe told FourFourTwo. “We don’t know what’s happened, what’s been said, behind closed doors, but he’s ostracised Jadon by asking him train with the youth team and also by himself.

“Sancho has such ability and I love to watch him when he’s on his game but he hasn’t done it regularly enough since he’s been there. He’s obviously had a conflict with the manager and now he’s at Borussia Dortmund, somewhere he seems far happier. Everyone will be satisfied with things as they stand but he’s still a Manchester United player so a decision will need to be made at the end of the season."

Recalling his own experience, Sharpe added: "I never actually went and apologised to Alex Ferguson. The manager would tell me off when I stepped out of line and I would sit there and take it and we’d all move on. Fergie would too – he was good like that. Once you’d had a row and he’d given you the hairdryer treatment you’d be left alone to get on with it.

“It’s tough to compare my day with what’s happened to Sancho because social media means they can go public with their complaints whereas we couldn’t. Unless you went to a newspaper but that wasn’t something people really did.

“We don’t know exactly what went on between Erik ten Hag and Sancho. The player obviously thinks he’s trained well enough and the manager doesn’t. It’s a simple difference of opinion that should have been settled behind closed doors. Sancho should probably apologise for the public speaking, even if not for the comments themselves."