Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov has become the latest club luminary to call upon Jadon Sancho to apologise to Erik ten Hag after their bombshell falling out, claiming that the young winger is ‘overestimating his importance’.
The 23-year-old lit the touchpaper on a growing discontentment between player and coach as he told his social media followers ‘don’t believe everything you read’ in response to Ten Hag’s suggestion that Sancho had not been named to the squad to face Arsenal due to ‘performances in training’.
The former Borussia Dortmund player claimed that his manager’s verdict was ‘completely untrue’ and that he was being made a ‘scapegoat’, and in response, Ten Hag has not only frozen the player out of his side but banned him from using first-team facilities.
Ex-United defender Roy Keane was among the first to call on Sancho to relent, imploring the player to ‘show some humility’.
And fellow Sir Alex Ferguson disciple Berbatov appears to be of a similar mindset.
‘If it continues like this, Jadon Sancho going to go nowhere at the club,’ the forward said in conversation with Betfair. ‘I’m very disappointed that a situation like this has been made public and a lot of people are discussing it. Things like this happen often, but they’re not made public.
‘Players will fight with their managers, players, club staff, or even themselves, but it’s not often made public. When it’s connected to a big club like United, then people will talk about it and interpret it differently.
‘Sometimes a player, and I hope this isn’t the case for Sancho, who takes this long to resolve conflict has overestimated his own value to the club. When it’s (Cristiano) Ronaldo, it’s different as he’s achieved everything.
‘I was at the club when Wayne Rooney had a fallout with the manager, and they sorted things out. I think Sancho is overestimating his importance. He’s not won that many trophies with them. It’s a different situation.
Sancho joined the club from Dortmund in a marqee £73million move in 2021 but has struggled to live up to the promise shown in Bundesliga.