Erik ten Hag throws Jadon Sancho lifeline but refuses to end Manchester United exile

Erik ten Hag has left the door open to a return for Jadon Sancho after a public war of words with the Manchester United winger.

Sancho has not featured for the Red Devils since a substitute appearance against Nottingham Forest last month.

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The 23-year-old was left out of Manchester United’s trip to Arsenal on September 3, with the Dutchman citing poor performance as the reason for his omission, sparking an angry social media outburst from Sancho.

With the winger’s future unclear, Ten Hag has seemingly opened the door to his return to the first-team squad but told reporters the England international would not be selected for Saturday’s trip to Burnley.

“It depends on him,” the United boss told his press conference on Friday. “For the rest, we are preparing for Burnley and that’s our focus. He will not be in the squad.”

Ten Hag is hopeful a host of injured stars will be fit enough to make the trip to Turf Moor ahead of what is already a must-win game for his side.

United know a victory is imperative to help get their season back on track after a run of four defeats in their last six outings.

Wednesday night’s 4-3 loss at Bayern Munich left Ten Hag’s side bottom of their Champions League group.

The defeat in Germany followed back-to-back Premier League defeats leaving United languishing in 13th place on the table – nine points adrift of leaders Manchester City.

Ten Hag provided a positive update on the return of injured quartet, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Mason Mount and deadline-day loan signing Sofyan Amrabat.

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He said: “Harry Maguire, we will see again after training. Varane will train, we will see, Amrabat will train, we will see and Mount as well. But they didn’t play for short or longer-term. Varane, obviously, was the shortest out.”

French World Cup winner Varane has missed United’s last three games with a muscle injury while £60m summer signing Mount picked up a hamstring injury in the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on August 19.

The pair returned to training on Tuesday but were not risked in the midweek defeat at Bayern Munich.