Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed his reasoning as to why he never worked well with Jadon Sancho during their mutual tenure at Man United.
The former England international was one of the former Red Devils manager’s most fervently desired transfer targets during his stint at Old Trafford, with Solskjaer finally securing the player in a £73million deal in the summer of 2021.
The then-21-year-old had impressed heavily at Borussia Dortmund after leaving United’s crosstown rivals Man City four years earlier, and Solskjaer was keen to stress on his signing that Sancho was set to ‘epitomise the best traditions of Manchester United’.
The reality of Sancho’s time in Manchester proved somewhat different, with Sancho struggling to hit the heights of his time in the Bundesliga in his new club’s colours.
Sancho’s adjustment to the side was slow going under Solskjaer, and when the Norwegian manager was replaced by Erik ten Hag, the forward’s time at the club went from bad to worse when he was banished from the squad altogether in August 2023.
Loan spells at Dortmund and Chelsea followed as Sancho remained an outcast at Carrington, with the player now struggling to settle during his third-consecutive loan stint at Aston Villa.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shared why Jadon Sancho had an unlucky start at Man United
The player was signed in a £73million deal over the summer of 2021 from Borussia Dortmund
But in discussion with The Overlap, brought to you by Arne, Solskjaer revealed that right from the very beginning, Sancho’s time at the club was star-crossed.
‘We wanted to take the next step – not move away from what we had, but add something different in the final third,’ Solskjaer explained of his decision to recruit Sancho.
‘We wanted players who could break teams down, and Jadon, with his skill, link-up play, and little passes around the box, gave us that.
‘He was unlucky through. Before he joined, he went on holiday, as you do, and ended up getting an ear infection.
‘He was in hospital, and really struggled for his first 10 days or so before he could even start training with us.
‘That hasn’t previously come out before,’ Solskjaer added. ‘I never really got to play with him properly, because by the time he was finding form again, I was already on my way out.’
Solskjaer was replaced by the Man United hierarchy in November of that year, after losing seven of his last 13 games in charge.
In his first full season under Ten Hag, Sancho made 41 appearances in all competitions, but in December 2022, took a period of time away from first-team duties due to ‘physical and mental’ factors.
After Solskjaer’s Old Trafford departure Sancho failed to click with new manager Erik ten Hag
Ten Hag sent Sancho to train alone in Holland under the close eye of trusted coaches before his reintegration into the team.
Although Sancho was called upon often after his return, the forward continued to struggle to find his strongest form.
At the start of the following season, Ten Hag shared in a press conference that he believed that the star’s training performances were not strong enough to warrant his inclusion in the team.
Sancho firmly denied the public claim and took to social media to suggest that his manager had been comfortable to make him a ‘scapegoat for a long time’.
The player was then exiled from Ten Hag’s set-up, with Sancho training separately from the first-team squad for the remainder of the campaign.
Although Sancho found stirrings of his old form at various points in Chelsea’s colours last season, his current loan spell with Villa remains rocky.
Sancho has made just four appearances for his new club and is yet to start a Premier League game under Unai Emery.
