Rio Ferdinand has claimed Jadon Sancho must either join a club in Saudi Arabia or accept sitting on the bench for Manchester United for the rest of the season – after he was dropped by Erik ten Hag for their 3-1 defeat by Arsenal. 

Sancho’s future looks in doubt after Ten Hag claimed he was left out of the defeat at the Emirates due to ‘training performance’ – with the player hitting back and calling the claims ‘completely untrue’ and insisting he has been made a ‘scapegoat’. 

United legend Ferdinand felt the situation was telling for Sancho and pointed out that the Saudi Arabian league was one of the only leagues where the transfer window was still open – suggesting it might be the £73million star’s only shot of regular football this season. 

‘That’s the difference as well. On his chart, Jadon [might think] – “I’ve trained alright”, but the manager might have a different standard. There’s two ways this ends. There’s only one window open now and that’s Saudi. Or you’re on the bench or not getting in the squad for the rest of the season.’

Rio Ferdinand (left) believes Jadon Sancho (right) could move to Saudi Arabia or be forced to sit on the bench for Man United this season 

Ten Hag claimed the winger was dropped for his ‘training performance’, which Sancho denies

United suffered a damaging loss in north London to confirm their second defeat from their first four games, with Antony, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial picked ahead of him in the starting line-up. 

Explaining his reasons for leaving out Sancho, Ten Hag said: ‘On his performance on training we didn’t select him. You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front line, so in this game, he wasn’t selected.’ 

Sancho later hit back on social media, insisting he had conducted himself ‘very well’ in training and that he had been a ‘scapegoat for a long time’. 

‘Please don’t believe everything you read!’ he said. ‘I will not allow people to say things that are completely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week. 

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‘I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!

‘All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to the team. I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and I am grateful to do so, which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!’

Sancho has had a difficult start to life at United since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2021. He was forced to take time off from the team last season due to mental health reasons and has found it difficult to nail down a regular place in the team. 

Sancho has had a difficult start to life at United and has struggled to nail down a first team spot

United were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal after two late goals – including a Declan Rice (above) winner

He has played 82 times for the team so far, scoring 12 times. 

With Sancho not even selected on the bench, the rest of Ten Hag’s players were unable to find a way past the Gunners on Sunday, despite Marcus Rashford opening the scoring in the first half. 

Arsenal rallied and equalised through a well-worked Martin Odegaard goal before new £105m signing Declan Rice smashed in a dramatic 96th-minute winner.

There was even time for substitute Gabriel Jesus to fire in a third in the 11th minute of stoppage time to put gloss on the win and sum up yet another difficult moment in a mixed start to the season from United.