Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag's true feelings towards Jadon Sancho have been revealed in a new report.
Sancho is currently preparing to play in a Champions League final at Wembley next month - but not with Manchester United.
Instead, the England winger has spent the second half of the season on loan at Borussia Dortmund, and starred in their Champions League semi-final first leg win over Paris Saint-Germain.
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He departed United after a public dispute with Ten Hag, which started after the Dutchman claimed he had been dropped from the squad for the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in September due to sub-par training performances.
Sancho denied this on social media - and was banished from the first team after reportedly failing to apologise to his manager for the post.
The end result was that the 23-year-old didn't play a single minute of football between September and December, before then moving to Dortmund in January.
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According to The Athletic, Ten Hag has privately been adamant that he offered Sancho as much support as he could throughout the player's time at Old Trafford.
He told reporters after Sancho's performance for Dortmund against PSG: "I'm happy for Jadon, for his performance yesterday, and we'll see what is going to happen in the future."
It is also added, however, that some of the manager's staff have privately said that Ten Hag went 'over and above what could be expected of a manager in building a personal relationship with a player'.
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Reports claim that United will pocket £3 million as a result of Sancho reaching the Champions League final with Dortmund, ahead of what appears likely to be a permanent transfer away from Old Trafford this summer.
Speaking about the situation to TNT Sports on Tuesday, United legend Rio Ferdinand said: "I don't think they'll undermine the manager in that way [bringing Sancho back].
"I think Ten Hag needs to be gone and out of the building for Jadon Sancho to come back. if he plays that way again tonight, he really puts pressure on United and the people behind the scenes.
"I think the only way he goes back to Manchester United is if Erik ten Hag isn't there. I don't think they can undermine the manager and let a player not apologise and then bring him back."
Topics: Erik Ten Hag, Jadon Sancho, Manchester United, Premier League, Football, Borussia Dortmund