Man Utd did not ask Jadon Sancho's permission before Erik ten Hag revealed player's mental health struggles last season

In December 2022, Dutch coach Ten Hag revealed in a press conference that Sancho was not being considered for selection at the time due to “physical and mental” factors.

The England international had been working his way back from injury and was made to train away from the rest of United’s first-team squad.

Sancho did not return to the fold until February 2023 and has continued to play a bit-part role since then – with starting berths proving hard to come by.

According to the Daily Mail, United did not have clearance from Sancho to discuss the private matters that were impacting his professional life.

The 23-year-old had already come off social media in 2022 as questions were asked of his mental health and the stresses of performing under the brightest of spotlights.

When making his return to action, Sancho posted: “Wow! Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for the support I've received over the past few weeks especially to the fans.

“My focus is to give my all to my team and the club, I'm so happy to be back out on the pitch, see you soon.”

The Daily Mail reports that Ten Hag thought he was being supportive of Sancho when explaining his absence and removing any need for speculation and conjecture.

While Sancho had been nursing an injury since October, United were apparently reluctant to put his spell on the sidelines down to solely physical issues when that was not the case.

They were eager to avoid sparking unwelcome and unnecessary debate, but did not discuss the matter with Sancho prior to going public.

The 23-cap England star has made headlines again in 2023-24 after being left out of United’s matchday squad for a Premier League clash with Arsenal.

Ten Hag claimed to have based that decision on training performance, but Sancho responded in a social media statement of his own in which he claimed to be being made a “scapegoat”.