Rio Ferdinand insists Jadon Sancho must either join a club in Saudi Arabia or spend the rest of the season on the bench at Manchester United… after being dropped by Erik ten Hag due to ‘training performance’

Rio Ferdinand has claimed Jadon Sancho should either join a club in Saudi Arabia or accept being benched at Manchester United for the rest of the season – after being dropped by Erik ten Hag over their 3-1 draw defeat against Arsenal.

Sancho’s future looks in doubt after Ten Hag claimed he was left out of defeat at the Emirates due to “training performance” – with the player hitting back, calling the claims “completely untrue” and insisting he had been made a “scapegoat”.

United legend Ferdinand felt the situation was telling for Sancho, pointing out that the Saudi Arabian league was one of the few leagues where the transfer window was still open – suggesting this may be the only chance the £73 star has million into regular football this season.

“It’s impossible for Jadon to make such a statement if he hasn’t performed well in his own eyes,” Ferdinand said on his phone. Rio presents five Youtube Channel.

That’s also the difference. On his card, Jadon would (might think) – ‘I trained well’, but the manager may have a different standard. There are two ways this ends. There is only one window open now and that is Saudi Arabia. Either you’re on the bench or you’re not in the selection for the rest of the season.’

Rio Ferdinand believes Jadon Sancho could move to Saudi Arabia or be forced to sit on the bench at Man United this season

Ten Hag claimed that the winger was dropped because of his ‘training performance’, which Sancho denies

United suffered a damaging defeat in North London to confirm their second defeat from their first four games, with Antony, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial ahead of him in the starting line-up.

On his reasons for leaving out Sancho, Ten Hag said: ‘We didn’t select him because of his performance in training. At Manchester United you have to reach the level every day. You can make choices in the frontline, so he wasn’t selected in this game.’

Sancho later hit back on social media, insisting he had behaved “very well” in training and had been a “scapegoat” for a long time.

“Please don’t believe everything you read!” he said. “I will not allow people to say things that are completely untrue. This week I behaved very well during training.

“I believe there are other reasons for this issue which I will not go into. I have been a scapegoat for a long time, which is not fair!

Sancho has had a rocky start at United, struggling to secure a first-team spot

United were beaten 3–1 by Arsenal after two goals in stoppage time from the hosts

“All I want is to play football with a smile on my face and contribute to the team. I respect all decisions made by the coaching staff, I play with great players and I am thankful for that, which I know is a challenge every week. Either way, I’ll keep fighting for this badge!’

Sancho has had a rocky start at United since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2021. Last season he had to take time off from the team due to mental health reasons and found it difficult to secure a permanent spot on the team.

He made 82 appearances for the team to date, scoring 12 times.

With Sancho not even selected on the bench, the remaining Ten Hag players could not find their way past the Gunners on Sunday, despite Marcus Rashford opening the scoring in the first half.

Arsenal rallied and equalized through a well-developed goal from Martin Odegaard before new £105 million signing Declan Rice scored a dramatic winner in the 96th minute.

There was even time for substitute Gabriel Jesus to shoot in a third in the 11th minute of stoppage time to add shine to the victory and sum up another difficult moment in United’s mixed start to the season.