Man Utd 'owe Jadon Sancho an apology' after Champions League masterclass

Borussia Dortmund have taken a brutal swipe at both Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and the club’s fans after Jadon Sancho starred in their Champions League win over PSG. The 24-year-old caused constant problems as the German side won 1-0 in the first leg of their semi-final at Signal Iduna Park, putting them on the brink of a first final in 11 years.

Sancho returned to his former club on loan in January following his explosive fallout with Ten Hag at Old Trafford, and after a slow start, is now reminding fans and pundits why United opted to pay more than £70million for him in 2021. His progress was capped with his superb display against the Parisians, after which Dortmund themselves took to social media.

From their official club account, they posted on X: “You all owe him an apology, we were ALWAYS familiar with his game.” The upload was accompanied with an image of Sancho in possession on Wednesday night.

Ironically, it was a lack of an apology that ultimately did for Sancho at United. He was accused of a lack of application in training by Ten Hag after being dropped for the clash against Arsenal in September, and the player responded by claiming on social media he was being made a ‘scapegoat’ for the team’s poor form.

Watch all the Premier League and Champions League drama unfold on TNT Sports.

He was then forced to train away from the first-team, and didn’t play another minute of action for the Red Devils before heading out on loan four months later. But after his performance against the French champions, one ex-United icon in Rio Ferdinand lauded his return to form.

“He was shaking and baking top players,” he told TNT Sports. “He’s making people dance. It was a joke what he has done today. We haven’t seen this probably since he was at Dortmund. He isn’t just a dribbler, he isn’t somebody who just runs and runs.

“He’s a footballer who wants to come in and play one-twos, be part of the game and the tempo. The arrogance is a great point as well, what I saw today more than anything which I’ve been waiting to see, and all other Man Utd fans have been thinking ‘Where is it?’ I saw cage football Sancho today.”

Sancho has won 23 international caps but has not featured for England since failing to make the 2022 World Cup squad in Qatar. And now Sir Jim Ratcliffe faces a crunch decision this summer on whether to try and embrace him back into the fold in Manchester.

That scenario could be dependent on whether Ten Hag himself remains in position. The forward is contracted at United until 2026, and were he to make his return to Dortmund permanent this summer, it would inevitably involve not only a drop in wages but also his parent club being forced to take a loss on the fee they paid for him three years ago.