'That didn't happen' - Former Manchester United assistant explains why Jadon Sancho signing failed

Mike Phelan insists there were 'no issues' with Jadon Sancho during their time together at Manchester United.

Phelan was assistant coach to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when United secured the signing of Sancho from Borussia Dortmund for an initial £73 million three years ago and worked closely with the winger on a daily basis.

United had made Sancho their top transfer target a year earlier and their patience paid off when they managed to sign him for £35m less by waiting a year for Dortmund to lower their demands.

Sancho arrived with much fanfare but never really settled at Old Trafford as Solskjaer was sacked just months into his first season at the club and he never really managed to nail down a regular place in the starting line up under either Ralf Rangnick or Erik ten Hag.

Last year, Sancho was exiled from the United first-team squad after publicly disputing Ten Hag's reasoning for dropping him for the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, before he was reintegrated into the side during the summer. He eventually joined Chelsea on loan with an obligation to make the move permanent next year, bringing an end to his sorry spell back in Manchester.

Phelan insists there were never any issues with Sancho during their time together at the club and says his struggles at the club were down to an inability to get the best out of him.

“We had no issues with Jadon whatsoever. No issues at all," he told talkSPORT. "The only thing was to get him out there on the training ground and get out of him exactly what we thought his qualities were. That didn’t happen for some reason. There were bits of moments, but ultimately he didn’t progress in a way he probably should have.”