Rio Ferdinand, a Manchester United legend, has questioned Jadon Sancho’s absence from Erik ten Hag’s squad since the World Cup, as the England ace has missed both Premier League games since the tournament in Qatar.

After being snubbed from Gareth Southgate’s squad, the winger was sent on an individual training regime and only returned to the Red Devils’ first-team training on Monday.

Sancho had not trained with the rest of the squad for 10 weeks, and travelled to the Netherlands during the World Cup in order to take part in a specialised training programme to get back to his best after a disappointing time at Old Trafford since his big-money move from Borussia Dortmund.

Ferdinand has queried whether Sancho’s non-involvement with the rest of the United squad could be “mental” rather than a physical issue, but that the club currently need him amid concerns over the lack of quality in depth in forward areas.

“Sancho is an interesting one. He’s gone away and he’s doing personal training somewhere,” Ferdinand said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel. I don’t know what’s happened or what’s behind all this.

Rio Ferdinand has questioned why Jadon Sancho is not in the Manchester United squad. (Image: Getty / Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE)

“I don’t know. Is he not fit or is it mental? What are they seeing at United? It would be nice to get that clarity. Listen, he is a south London boy so I care about him and want him to do well. But he hasn’t hit the ground running at United, for whatever reason. United actually need him right now, they need another player because the depth on the bench isn’t great.

“Sancho would add to that squad depth but he needs to come back and be the Sancho we saw at Dortmund, the Sancho that got people off their seats. I watched an old video of Sancho the other day and he was tearing it up against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. That’s the Sancho I expected to see at United.”

Jadon Sancho training with the Manchester United squad. (Image: Getty)

Ahead of United’s 1-0 win away to Wolves on Saturday, where Marcus Rashford came off the bench to score the game’s only goal, Ten Hag admitted that Sancho was “making progress” ahead of a potential return to the squad.

“The time is not now [for him to return to the squad] but he is making progress,” said Ten Hag. “We will see when he is ready to return into the squad. He’s back in Manchester, he will start individual training.”

Sancho has made 14 appearances in all competitions this season for United, including 10 starts in the Premier League, but has not featured since the 1-1 draw away to Chelsea in October and the Red Devils have played nine games since that point at Stamford Bridge.

source: https://www.express.co.uk/