Arsenal’s secret weapon in the Jadon Sancho transfer battle despite Manchester United’s stance
Jadon Sancho’s tenure at Manchester United has been disappointingly lackluster, to put it mildly.
After his acquisition from Borussia Dortmund for a hefty £73 million, there were high expectations that the English international would set the Premier League ablaze.
During his time at the Westfalenstadion, this young winger had firmly established himself as one of Europe’s most promising talents. However, since joining the Manchester club, he has struggled to consistently deliver strong performances.
Following United’s recent 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, when questioned about why Sancho was omitted from the matchday squad for the trip to the Emirates, United manager Erik ten Hag delivered a scathing response.
“On his performance on training we didn’t select him,” Ten Hag replied when asked about Sancho’s exclusion. “You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United.
“You can make choices in the front line, so in this game he wasn’t selected.”
The 23-year-old then disputed the Dutchman’s comments, deeming them as “untrue,” in a written statement posted on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Following this, Manchester United released a statement on Thursday, confirming that the player would be training separately from his teammates until the issue was resolved.
This situation has sparked a lot of speculation regarding Sancho’s future at Old Trafford. Some Arsenal fans have even suggested that their club should consider signing him for a reduced fee in the upcoming January transfer window.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has a history of targeting players who have struggled to fulfill their potential at other clubs, as seen with his successful work with Martin Odegaard, and he is currently attempting to do the same with Kai Havertz, who faced difficulties at Chelsea.
If Arsenal were to pursue Sancho, they might have an advantage in recruiting him through the strong friendship he shares with Reiss Nelson.
Sancho and Nelson have been close friends for quite some time, with Sancho stating in a 2019 interview with the Daily Mail, “We go way back. I first met Reiss when I was playing for Watford.
“We used to play each other in Southwark youth games. That’s how we got really close. We always used to link up and do little things – go to the cages, kick a ball with our friends.”
Meanwhile, Nelson has also spoken about his childhood friend, telling the Guardian back in 2020: “It was always: ‘Reiss and Jadon, who’s better?’ Or ‘Reiss and Jadon, play football’, and it was getting a bit annoying and boring for us.
“We’d be out, like in a nice place, and someone would just throw a ball and say: ‘These two, battle each other!’ It got to a point where we were both just like: ‘Nah, we can’t just go messing around with each other all the time.’ It’s more of a proper brotherhood – he’s like my brother. It’s not a battle like some people say.”
Arsenal’s secret weapon in the Jadon Sancho transfer battle despite Manchester United’s stance