Erik ten Hag says Jadon Sancho ‘represents a high value for Manchester United’

Erik ten Hag says Jadon Sancho’s sensational Champions League performance for Borussia Dortmund showed why Manchester United bought him and underlined his “high value” ahead of the summer.

The 24-year-old winger struggled to live up to the hype after joining United from the German club for £73million in 2021 and was banished last September after claiming on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat”.

Sancho hit out after Ten Hag claimed he had not reached the “level” required to be involved in their squad at Arsenal and did not feature again for United, who loaned him out to his former employers for the rest of the season in January.

Sancho has featured regularly for Dortmund and sparkled in Wednesday’s 1-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Paris St Germain, increasing talk about his future next campaign.

“So, let’s say this: yesterday he played very good and he’s a very good player,” said Ten Hag, who exiled Sancho from the first team.

“Yesterday he showed why Manchester United bought him. He showed also that he represents a high value for Manchester United, which is good.

“So, I’m happy – happy for Jadon with his performance yesterday and we will see what is going to happen in the future.”

Sancho is among those up for sale this summer as ambitious Ineos looks to reshape the club while juggling Premier League and UEFA’s financial restrictions.

Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund are understood to be among those ringfenced from sales that Ten Hag says will not be as widespread as some had reported.

“It’s a joke,” he said. “As long as I’ve worked here, every summer, every window, I think 200 players are getting interest from Manchester United. We did some research. Untrue.

“And also