Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag has given his support Jadon Sancho “hit it off” after he returned to the club following a public fallout between the pair last season.
Sancho made his first appearance for Man United since last August in a pre-season friendly with Rangers on Saturday.
He spent the second half of last season on loan to his former club. Borussia Dortmundreached the UEFA Champions League final, after publicly criticizing Ten Hag in a social media post.
But after meeting with Ten Hag earlier this month, Sancho returned to first-team training.
“We had a good conversation,” Dutch newspaper AD Sportwereld said ahead of Saturday’s 2-0 friendly win. “Everyone can make mistakes. If the player reflects well on that, you draw the line and move on.
“This club needs good players, and one thing is for sure: Jadon Sancho is a very good player. I hope that we will stay together and that he will contribute to our success.”
Despite intense speculation over his future, Ten Hag has signed a new contract to remain as Man United manager this summer. The former Ajax boss takes over at Old Trafford in 2022 from interim boss Ralf Ragnick, who said the club needed “open-heart” surgery to return to their former glory.
“Rangnick was absolutely right,” Ten Hag added to AD Sportwereld. “We have been working very hard on this for two years, but he was right: it is a comprehensive, very complex operation. And when I started, I knew it was going to be a difficult job.”
The structure around Ten Hag has changed significantly in recent months following Sir Jim Ratcliffe becoming a minority owner. Ten Hag described the early signs of working with new sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and recruitment director Christopher Vivell as “very good”.
This summer, United have signed French teenage defender Leny Yoro for an initial fee of €62 million ($67.6 million), as well as Netherlands front Joshua Zirkzee with more than 40 million euros ($43 million) from Bologna.
The club also continues to be interested in defenders. Matthijs de Ligt belong to Bayern Munich And Everton‘S Jarrad Branthwaitesources told ESPN.
“I won’t comment specifically on whether we’ve attracted those two names or not,” Ten Hag said in the interview. “It remains to be seen whether De Ligt will come or not. I know Matthijs well and I won’t deny that.
“I wanted to sign him two years ago but at that time he was already a long way from joining Bayern Munich but believe it or not, his name was not revealed by me during that process.”
