'Wasting money' - Harsh verdict given on Man Utd signing as £14m transfer blunder exposed

Gabby Agbonlahor has urged Jadon Sancho to follow Anthony Elanga in rebuilding his career away from Manchester United. Sancho looks set to leave United this month after falling out with Erik ten Hag.

The 23-year-old was exiled from the first-team after accusing his manager of lying about poor performances in training before the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal in September. He was left out of the matchday squad for that game and has not featured since.

Elanga took the decision to leave United in the summer after falling out of favour under Ten Hag, who brought Antony across from Ajax in his first summer at Old Trafford. The Swedish international has been excellent for Nottingham Forest and Agbonlahor insists Sancho must follow suit if he is to get back on track.

“The main thing that probably annoyed Sancho was that every game Antony [did] nothing. Next game Antony starts, nothing,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT. “So as a player, imagine you're training and thinking ‘I'm not going to get a chance, this guy is obsessed with playing his big signing’.

“Managers do that when they make a big signing but the player is not performing - they try to keep making it work so their bosses don't think they’re wasting money. Look at Elanga, he got sold for just £14million to Nottingham Forest and he’s got four goals and six assists. Antony has zero goals and zero assists and you spent £86m.

“So they've sold a player who has gone on to do better things for £14m, bought Antony for £86m who is doing nothing. And Jadon Sancho is probably sitting there thinking ‘I’m training hard and not getting a chance’ so he’s taken his foot off the gas, the manager has called him out and he's had a go back. So for me, Sancho has got to go back to Dortmund. He got 38 goals in 104 games at Dortmund. Get your career back on track and hopefully start scoring goals again.”

Sancho is reportedly in talks with Dortmund over a loan deal for the rest of the season. That would see him return to the club he left for United in 2021, following the agreement of a £73m fee.

It is unclear whether United plan to replace the England international in the January transfer market but club chiefs have confirmed they are expecting a quiet month. Sir Jim Ratcliffe will oversee major change once he takes charge of footballing operations, but that is subject to passing the Premier League's owners' and directors' test which could take six to eight weeks.