Jadon Sancho has 'fallen back into his old ways' at Chelsea as Man Utd proven right

Chelsea winger Jadon Sancho has been accused of returning to his old habits at Manchester United by former Premier League midfielder Jamie O’Hara. Sancho enjoyed a bright start to his season-long loan at Stamford Bridge but has recently disappeared from Enzo Maresca’s matchday squads, sparking speculation of trouble in the water.

The 24-year-old’s issues at United have been well-documented over the three years since his £72million arrival from Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea offered an escape route on transfer deadline day in the summer, agreeing a loan deal with an obligation to turn it permanent for £25million if they finish among the Premier League’s top 14 teams.

Sancho registered an assist in each of his first three appearances for the Blues against Bournemouth, West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion.

But he has fallen out of the limelight since two underwhelming displays against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool that followed.

Maresca has cited illness, but O’Hara believes the issues that contributed to his failure at Old Trafford could be flaring up again at Chelsea.

“Jadon Sancho’s been given an opportunity at Chelsea to prove people wrong, but it hasn’t happened yet,” O’Hara told Grosvenor Sport.

“Manchester United spent a lot of money on him, and it didn’t work out, so he’s gone to Chelsea and showed signs of brilliance and confidence at the start, but he seems to have fallen back into his old ways since then.”

Erik ten Hag and Sancho settled their differences at the start of pre-season, but United deemed him surplus to requirements.

With Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad and Antony all ahead of Sancho in the Dutchman’s pecking order, he was shown the door.

O’Hara added that the intense competition at Chelsea – even more so than in Manchester – has also contributed to his prolonged absence.

He continued: “I think the problem with Sancho at Chelsea is that there are better players than him in that squad – Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke are more influential than him.

“He needs to try and produce moments when he gets the chance to impress, or he’ll stay where he is in the pecking order.

“It’s always going to be difficult when there’s a big group of attacking players in the same squad, but I think Enzo Maresca has worked out that Sancho isn’t as good as a lot of them.”

Sancho has been pictured back in Chelsea training during the November international break.

However, whether he will feature in Saturday’s Premier League trip to Leicester City remains to be seen.