Jadon Sancho’s Manchester United nightmare is almost over with his return to Borussia Dortmund on loan reportedly close to completion.
The England winger, who cost United £73million when they signed him from the Bundesliga club in 2021, was banished by Erik ten Hag to train with the club’s academy teams in September.
That came after Sancho accused Ten Hag of lying over his performance levels in training after he was left out of the United squad to face Arsenal on September 3.
But Sancho’s exile is almost over with German newspaper Bild reporting the loan until the end of the season is close to being a done deal.
Their report says only tax details have to be sorted out now and Sancho could report to Dortmund’s winter training camp in Marbella, Spain as soon as Friday.
Jadon Sancho’s Manchester United nightmare is almost over as he returns to Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season
The England winger in action for Dortmund when they beat RB Leipzig in the 2021 cup final
The deal will cost Dortmund only around £2.6million overall, they say.
Dortmund are currently fifth in the Bundesliga table and sit six points behind RB Leipzig in fourth and 15 points shy of leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Having topped a tough Champions League group featuring Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United and AC Milan, they will face PSV Eindhoven in the last-16 next month.
Sancho, 23, spent four years with Dortmund between 2017 and 2021, scoring 50 goals and contributing 64 assists in 137 matches.
He helped them lift the German Cup in 2021 shortly before his move to United, scoring twice in the 4-1 final win over RB Leizpig.
But Sancho has struggled to make much impression at Old Trafford, with 12 goals and six assists in 82 games over two-and-a-bit seasons.
He came off the bench in each of United’s first three Premier League fixtures this season but was then left out the squad to face Arsenal on September 3.
Afterwards, Ten Hag explained Sancho had not performed well enough in training, adding players ‘have to reach a level every day at Manchester United.’
Within minutes, Sancho posted a response on social media in which he directly contradicted Ten Hag’s comments.
He wrote: ‘I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself very well in training this week… I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!’
On September 14, United confirmed Sancho would be training away from the first team group pending the resolution of the matter.
However, with no sign of a rapprochement with Ten Hag, United were open to offers to move Sancho on during the January window and a return to Dortmund was the player’s favoured option.
More to follow.