Sancho wants Man Utd ‘second coming’ but Ten Hag sack, ‘fire sale’ Ratcliffe stances cast doubt
Jadon Sancho is reportedly ‘open’ to a return to Manchester United amidst uncertainty over the future of manager Erik ten Hag.
The 24-year-old re-joined Borussia Dortmund on loan in the January transfer window.
Jadon Sancho ‘open to starting again’ at Man Utd
He enjoyed four great years in Germany before earning a £73million transfer to Manchester United in July 2021.
Sancho failed to live up to expectations in his debut season, scoring five goals and making three assists in 38 appearances.
2022/23 was better but not by much, providing 10 goal contributions in the same number of matches.
Things went from bad to worse earlier this season when the England international fell out with Red Devils manager Ten Hag, who called out the player for not training well enough.
Sancho publicly responded by essentially calling his manager a liar and has not played since the falling out at the start of September.
There was talk of a move to Saudi Arabia but the player was not keen and held out for a temporary return to Dortmund.
He is hardly back to his best having scored two goals and provided two assists in 13 games since returning, but Sancho is at least enjoying his football again.
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Huge question marks over Sancho’s future remain and a report from iNews says that he is open to the idea of playing for Manchester United again.
It seems to be a case of Sancho hoping he can outlive Ten Hag at Old Trafford and is ‘open to starting again’ if the Dutchman is sacked in the summer.
Related video: Why Manchester United Wants Dan Ashworth So Badly (Dailymotion)
However, should new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe decide to keep the former Ajax manager, the Dortmund loanee will likely be sold.
The belief is that Ratcliffe is planning for next season with Ten Hag at the helm but United’s wildly inconsistent form in 23/24 has left his long-term future at the club ‘increasingly uncertain’.
The report claims that Ten Hag and Sancho’s relationship is now deemed ‘irreparable’ and the ‘only feasible way’ the 24-year-old plays for United again is if the manager is sacked.
While Ten Hag is not open to giving Sancho another chance, it is believed that new technical director Jason Wilcox is ‘more open to giving him another chance’.
Saying that, the club’s ‘first choice’ is to sell the former Manchester City youth player with Ratcliffe planning a ‘fire sale’.
Other players potentially up for sale are Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Of course, United might not find any sufficient suitors for Sancho, so ‘a second coming could be an option’.
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7 former Man Utd players who are currently thriving away from Old Trafford
Manchester United are enduring another inconsistent season, but a handful of their former players are currently enjoying themselves far more in 2023-24.
As Erik ten Hag’s team stumble from one match to the next, players that didn’t thrive at Old Trafford are having a much better time of it.
We’ve identified seven former United stars who are currently loving life since leaving the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo
After his acrimonious departure from Old Trafford in 2022, many saw Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr as a legendary player choosing to wind down his career in a retirement league.
But the Portuguese forward has scored an incredible 42 goals in 43 games this season – and we wouldn’t bet against him top scoring at Euro 2024 either.
TRY A QUIZ: The Ultimate Cristiano Ronaldo Quiz: 30 tricky questions on the Real Madrid & Man Utd icon
Daley Blind
After playing under Van Gaal at international level for the Netherlands, Blind reunited with the manager at Old Trafford in 2014.
The versatile defender won the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League at United but slipped down the pecking order under Jose Mourinho.
After stints with Ajax and Bayern Munich, Blind must be loving life at Girona right now – the Spanish club are currently enjoying a sensational season and are on course to qualify for next season’s Champions League.Related video: Why Manchester United Wants Dan Ashworth So Badly (Dailymotion)
Blind has played 27 times in La Liga this season and will play a crucial role if Girona are to achieve a miracle.
Romelu Lukaku
Jose Mourinho spent an initial £75million to bring Lukaku to United in 2017, where he scored 27 goals in all competitions in his first season before tailing off and being flogged to Inter Milan.
His career since then has had a bit of everything, from goal-scoring greatness with Inter to a nightmare return to Chelsea, but he’s since moved to Roma and already has 18 goals in 40 matches this year – including two against Brighton in the Europa League.
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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player Erik ten Hag has used at Man Utd?
Fred
Since leaving United in 2023, Fred has played 26 matches for Fenerbahce as they’ve streaked to the top of the Turkish league. Some United fans feel it was a mistake to let the combative midfielder leave so cheaply.
Angel Di Maria
Di Maria eschewed moves to Saudi Arabia or the MLS in favour of a romantic return to Benfica last in 2023.
He’s been living his best life in Portugal, including a ridiculous Olimpico against Salzburg in the Champions League.
Marcel Sabitzer
Sabitzer was a semi-success at Old Trafford; arriving on loan in January 2023, the midfielder scored three times in 18 appearances and looked classy on the ball, but was an emblem of a club attempting to achieve success on the cheap.
The Austria international joined Borussia Dortmund after his spell at United was over and scored a crucial goal in their Champions League quarter-final win over Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile United are playing to avoid the Europa Conference League. Some life.
Daniel James
It’s August 2019: Brexit is dominating the headlines, Sky Sports News are countdown-clocking Bury’s demise and Dan James is United’s best player.
The Wales international made an instant impact after joining from Swansea, but became increasingly marginalised by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as it became apparent he wasn’t quite United standard.
James joined Leeds in 2021 and is blossoming in the Championship this season – the winger has 13 goals and six assists in 39 appearances as the club look to make an instant return to the top flight. We’ll gloss over his missed penalty against Poland.
Man Utd’s teenage Wayne Rooney regen is already defying the rules of football
Manchester United are no strangers to some of football’s most promising young talents, but it’s not often a prospect emerges with a profile like Amir Ibragimov’s.
We’ve heard it all before about a youngster in the ranks at United – way too often, actually – and while some do unfortunately become overhyped, there’s also the rather pressing issue that is the Red Devils’ seemingly never-ending post-Ferguson banter era.
It’s been a tough gig for players, management and staff alike at Old Trafford over the last decade and making it stick as a youngster with the weight of the world on your shoulders has consistently proven almost impossible.
With unnecessary hype from social media rife and United managers often resorting to overexposing their most promising young talents too soon when under pressure, plenty of high-potential ballers have stagnated or missed their chance completely.
For Ibragimov, though, failure isn’t an option. It simply can’t be for a wonderkid so obscenely talented at such a young age.
Born in Dagestan, Ibragimov moved to England at the age of eight with his family and his English football journey began with Sheffield United, before heading to the red side of Manchester later down the line.
It’s in Manchester where his talent has blossomed, having very quickly turned into both a technical and a genetic freak that even WWE legend Scott Steiner would struggle to comprehend.
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For as talented as Ibragimov is, however, it’s not ‘Big Papa Pump’ who he’s been compared to (until now). The comparison he has drawn is much more iconic.
“There aren’t many I’ve seen that can run like him,” Raducio King told the Manchester Evening News, having been responsible for recruiting him for United.
“I could see him playing as a No.10, like a Wayne Rooney role, driving forward, switching balls, tackling, attacking, you name it. Just making sure the team does well – he can attack and defend.”
We’ve done enough talking. Time to see the Rooney regen in action.
Being compared to Rooney is one thing; being anywhere near as good as United’s record scorer is probably impossible.
However, if there’s anybody who we’re convinced right now could push that statement to its limit, it’s Ibragimov. He only turned at the beginning of April and has already trained with Erik ten Hag’s senior squad, while also playing twice in Premier League 2 with the under-21s so far this season.
Representing England at youth level despite being born in Russia, Ibragimov’s bullish approach in possession contrasts beautifully with a technical excellence that can’t really be taught.
Ironically, we’d love to see him in an episode of Wayne Rooney’s Street Striker.
Comparing him to the United legend – on profile alone – wasn’t the only thing King had to say about Ibragimov, in a truly glowing review of the youngster – who appears to play with magnets in his boots.
“Hard work beats talent and he’s got both. He can be guided to become even more successful and we’re one big family. He was shy at first, but if he knows you, you’ll see the real Amir. He was going to be a little reserved, to begin with.
“He came to this country and couldn’t speak the language, but his English is beautiful now, it’s really good. I went to his game against PSG (in 2023). His work rate was shown again but we thought he could have done better, in the sense of being more creative.”
King’s final point about creativity serves as an important reminder that the 16-year-old’s career is yet to even really begin. For all the outrageous attributes from the freakish ball carrying and balance to the strength and eye for goal, Ibragimov is still taking his first steps into the professional game.
Those steps, however, are rather massive strides. And if he maintains his current trajectory, he’ll be debuting as a teenager, shouting at referees and volleying loose balls towards goal in no time, ready to spark a revival at the Theatre of Dreams.
Remember the name.
By Mitch Wilks
Unai Emery to Manchester United idea shot down as quickly as it was raised
Former Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has implored Unai Emery to summon up the will to resist the purely hypothetical notion of ditching Villa Park to take over from Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
Emery has been showered with praise for lifting Aston Villa to fifth place this season, with their two-goal victory away to Arsenal on Sunday just the latest impressive result for a side that is also competing for Europa Conference League honours.
Manchester United would be ‘complete no-brainer’ move for Unai Emery
That has made the former Gunners boss the flavour of the month once again, because football operates on a never-ending cycle of a lack of imagination beyond the last thing we all happened to see on telly.
And with ten Hag under pressure at Manchester United, it was only a matter of time before those two parts of the punditocracy’s flip-the-panel book of opinions to hit upon this particular combination of club and manager.
Read more: Manchester United need clean break from Erik ten Hag to end embarrassing adolescence
Speaking on his talkSPORT show, Andy Goldstein had said: “If you’ve got the opportunity to manage one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“If this was Barcelona, if Barcelona slipped to 8th, and Unai Emery had the chance to manage them, he’s going.
“If it’s Man United, he’s going … they’re just bigger clubs, and the opportunity to have one of them on your CV, from my money, is a complete no-brainer.”
Already got Arsenal on there, which didn’t go so well, but alright.
Unai Emery urged to resist purely hypothetical job offer
Bent responded: “Would he leave his current post? Listen, Manchester United’s a bigger club, that’s a fact.
“But I think to convince him to leave, it would have to take one hell of an effort for Manchester United. All their ducks would have to be aligned for him to even consider it.
“Because right now, at the minute Aston Villa look like they’re only going one way and that’s up.”
Bent doubts whether United will be able to arrange their waterfowl appropriately with so much else happening behind the scenes already this summer, however, saying: “I don’t think he’ll go to Manchester United in the summer regardless.
“There’s so much that’s got to go at your club. You’ve got to get players out, players in. Who’s the sporting director? There’s so much that has to be done at United. Why would he leave Villa?
“Unai, stay where you’re at!”
The ridiculous stats of Kylian Mbappe: 28 Champions League and World Cup knockout goals in 36 games
Kylian Mbappe has scored more Champions League and World Cup knockout goals than most and he might well be joining Real Madrid as a European champion.
Here are the Frenchman’s most ridiculous career statistics so far. He could be dragging PSG to another Champions League final.
* Mbappe has scored 326 and assisted 153 goals in 436 career appearances for club and country, winning 16 trophies.
* Kylian Mbappe has scored 19 career hat-tricks across seven different competitions (Coupe de la Ligue, Ligue Un, Champions League, Coupe de France, World Cup qualifying, World Cup and Euros qualifying) against Rennes, FC Metz (x2), Lyon (x2, one was four goals), Guingamp, Monaco, Club Brugge, Barcelona, Clermont Foot, Vannes, Lille, US Pays de Cassel (five goals), Stade Reims, US Revel, Montpellier, Kazakhstan (four goals), Argentina and Gilbraltar.
* Mbappe ranks 8th for all-time French top-flight goals (188) but is a distant first for Ligue Un goals scored in the 21st century.
* Mbappe has been Ligue Un top scorer in five consecutive seasons, a record jointly held with Jean-Pierre Papin. He is nine goals clear in the race for the 2023/24 Golden Boot.
* Mbappe was the first player to finish as top scorer and assist provider in the same Ligue Un season (2021/22).
* Mbappe is the only player to win the Ligue Un Player of the Year award in four consecutive seasons. He was also the first player to win it in three consecutive seasons.
* Only nine players in Champions League and European Cup history have scored more goals in the competition than Mbappe (48), and of those just Alfredo di Stefano, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have a better goals-per-game record than the Frenchman’s 0.68.
* Mbappe has scored more Champions League or European Cup goals than Eusebio, Mo Salah, Didier Drogba, Neymar, Alessandro Del Piero, Sergio Aguero, Ferenc Puskas, Gerd Muller, Samuel Eto’o, Wayne Rooney, David Trezeguet, Ryan Giggs, Luis Suarez and Romario, among many others.
* Mbappe was once the youngest player to score 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 Champions League goals, most of which have since been beaten by the equally ridiculous Erling Haaland.
* Mbappe is one of only three players to score a Champions League hat-trick against Barcelona, and the first to score four goals against the Catalans in a single Champions League campaign.
* Mbappe is Paris Saint-Germain’s record goalscorer in all competitions, despite being 24 and joining them six years ago. He has scored 253 goals in 302 appearances.
* Only five players have ever scored more Champions League knockout stage goals than Mbappe (20), who has more than Andriy Shevchenko, Raul, Neymar, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and any Liverpool player.
* Mbappe is the youngest player in Champions League history to score in both legs of a quarter-final, and to score at all in a semi-final, with those goals coming for Monaco in 2017. His first six Champions League career goals were all in the knockout stages.
* Mbappe is the youngest Champions League goalscorer for two clubs, which is ridiculous the more you think about it. He was quite inevitably the first teenager in history to score a Champions League goal for two different clubs.
* Mbappe is the highest-scoring teenager in Champions League history.
* Mbappe has already scored away at Camp Nou, the Bernabeu, Old Trafford, Anfield, the Etihad, the Allianz Arena, the Juventus Stadium, Signal Iduna Park and Celtic Park.
* Only five of the 25 teams Mbappe has played in Europe have prevented him from ever scoring. He has faced Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen and Spurs just once, making CSKA Moscow and Napoli the only teams to come up against Mbappe twice in Europe without conceding to him.
* Mbappe has played 14 games against English clubs, scoring six goals and assisting three against Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle.
* Mbappe has scored more goals (15) against Montpellier than any other club, in 15 games. In the Champions League he has scored most of his goals against Barcelona (six).
* Mbappe was the most expensive teenager in football history and remains the second-most expensive player ever after his £166m move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2018.
* Mbappe has scored most of his goals for Thomas Tuchel, bagging 83 goals in 98 games during the German’s reign at PSG.
* At international level, only Olivier Giroud (56 in 127) and Thierry Henry (51 in 123) have scored more goals for the French national team than Mbappe (46 in 73), and only Just Fontaine has scored more goals for France at the World Cup. He is also the youngest French player to score at a World Cup.
* Only five players have scored more World Cup goals than the 24-year-old Mbappe (12): Lionel Messi, Just Fontaine (both 13), Gerd Muller (14), Ronaldo (15) and Miroslav Klose (16).
* Only five players have ever scored more goals in a single World Cup tournament than Mbappe’s eight in 2022: Gerd Muller (10 in 1970), Eusebio (9 in 1966), Just Fontaine (13 in 1958), Sandor Kocsis (11 in 1954) and Ademir (9 in 1950).
* No player has scored more World Cup knockout goals (last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) than Mbappe, who is level with Ronaldo on eight.
* Mbappe was the first player to score eight, nine, 10, 11 and 12 World Cup goals before their 24th birthday.
* Mbappe was the second teenager to score twice in a World Cup game and the second teenager to score in a World Cup final; Pele was first to do both.
* Mbappe is only the second player to score a World Cup final hat-trick, after Geoff Hurst in 1966.
* Mbappe is only the second player to score in consecutive World Cup final matches, after Vava in 1958 and 1962.
* Only four players have been top scorer at a World Cup tournament at a younger age than Mbappe (8 goals) in 2022: James Rodriguez was 23 in 2014 (6), Thomas Muller was 20 in 2010 (5), Mario Kempes was 23 in 1978 (6) and Florian Albert was 20 in 1962 (4).
* Mbappe is the top scorer in World Cup final matches with four goals in 2018 and 2022.
* Mbappe is the only player to score a competitive hat-trick for France in Mbappe’s lifetime. Before his four goals against Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier in November 2021, three against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final and treble in a November 2023 shellacking of Gibraltar, the previous hat-trick for Les Bleus outside of friendlies was in 1985, by Dominique Rocheteau.
Ridiculous statistics: Sergio Aguero| Harry Kane | Erling Haaland
