Manchester United’s sporting director, Dan Ashworth, has dismissed claims that Jadon Sancho was forced out of the club against his will.
The winger was loaned to Chelsea on transfer deadline day, despite seemingly resolving his issues with United manager Erik ten Hag after a disagreement last season.
As part of the loan deal, Chelsea are obliged to purchase Sancho at the end of the season for a fee ranging between £20million and £25m, depending on their performance this season.
However, Ashworth refuted the idea that Sancho, 24, who spent the latter half of last season on loan at his former club Borussia Dortmund, was pushed out of United due to his clash with Ten Hag.
When questioned if Sancho’s dispute with Ten Hag meant there was no future for him at United, Ashworth responded: “Nothing to do with that. It was a decision that we made – if it’s right for Jadon and it’s right for us to move on.
“He wanted to explore the opportunity at Chelsea, like Scott McTominay wanted to explore the opportunity at Napoli, like Aaron Wan-Bissaka wanted to explore the opportunity at West Ham.
“We’re not in a position where we’re kicking players out of the club. I think with any player, whether it’s Jadon, whether it’s Scott or whether it’s Aaron, if there’s a preference that they would like to move and go to a new club and it’s right for them and it’s right for us, then you have to explore it.
“We felt we had enough depth in that particular position to be able to cover it. We’ve got four really good wide players, Jadon was the fifth, and it just enabled us to make that decision that if it was good for him and good for us, it was something we were willing to consider.”
