Man Utd: Ashworth makes admission on ‘fifth’ choice Sancho’s exit as he defends Ten Hag’s transfers

Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth has commented on Jadon Sancho’s move to Chelsea, claiming his exit “had to be explored”.

Sancho was unable to live up to expectations following his £73m move to Man Utd in 2021 and he dropped down the pecking order last season following his fallout with Erik ten Hag.

The England international impressed while on loan at Borussia Dortmund towards the end of last season, while he and Ten Hag appeared to kiss and make up at the start of this summer.

The 24-year-old featured heavily for Man Utd during pre-season but he was not involved in either of their opening two Premier League games of the 2024/25 campaign.

Sancho was linked with several elite European clubs in the summer, but he opted to join Chelsea on loan on deadline day. A report has revealed he made a ‘sacrifice’ to join the Blues and he’s almost ‘guaranteed’ to make his move permanent next year.

United chief Ashworth has commented on Sancho’s exit, claiming they were “willing to consider” his departure as he was their “fifth” choice.

“I think with any player, whether it’s Jadon, whether it’s Scott [McTominay] 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,” Ashworth said.

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“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 a fifth, and it just enabled us to make that decision.

“If it was good for him and good for us it was something we were willing to consider.”

When asked whether Sancho does not have  future at Man Utd, Ashworth answered: “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 wanted to explore the opportunity at Napoli, like Aaron wanted to explore the opportunity at West Ham.

“We’re not in a position where we’re kicking players out of the club.”

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Ashworth has also moved to defend Man Utd’s transfer business under Ten Hag amid claims they have purely focused on signing players he has previously worked with.

“It’s human nature to work with somebody you’ve worked with previously in all contexts, in all business contexts,” Ashworth added.

“That is a natural sway, because you know that person, because you know that player.

“But we’ve also signed a number of players this summer who haven’t worked with Erik previously – Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, he’d never worked with Joshua Zirkzee – and you can’t say ‘just because he’s Dutch’ that he knows him.

“You would put the whole of the English market to me [if that were the case]. He’s not worked with him before. He’s worked with Matthijs and Nous [Mazraoui] previously, but as I’ve said before, they were both on our radar and it’s a joined-up decision on who comes in and out of this football club.”