Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has called Jadon Sancho’s loan move to Aston Villa into question.

Sancho, who was included in United’s five-man Bomb Squad alongside Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, and Tyrell Malacia this summer, completed a deadline day transfer to Villa, where he’ll play until the end of the season.

After a season on loan to Chelsea, during which they opted not to make the £25m deal permanent despite a £5 million fee, Sancho made his next move on Monday to bolster Villa’s offensive lineup.

Ferdinand, though, has called the move into question. But he isn’t worried about Sancho leaving – more the nature of the deal.

The transfer doesn’t include a buy option, with Sancho’s contract at United set to expire at the season’s end. However, the Red Devils retain the option to extend his contract by another 12 months to prevent losing him for nothing, a scenario that concerns Ferdinand.

Rio Ferdinand has raised concerns over Manchester United’s handling of Jadon Sancho’s loan move to Aston Villa

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Sancho is still contracted to Manchester United but has joined Villa on loan for the season

‘Ain’t Sancho’s got an obligation to buy at the end of it?’ he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents. ‘No? Oh, don’t like that.

‘I said this ages ago, if you’re going to take massive losses on these players, take them. Just to get out.

‘I don’t think you can think about the financials too much if you’re going to have them around the place and let them be a bad smell around the place. No, get rid. I don’t care.’

United succeeded in offloading all but one of the five players in their Bomb Squad, who were training separately. Sancho and Rashford moved to Villa and Barcelona, respectively, while Garnacho finalized a permanent deal with Chelsea. Antony also departed for Real Betis on a permanent basis.

Meanwhile, Malacia will continue to train alone at Old Trafford unless a move to Turkey materializes before their transfer window closes on September 12, following the collapse of a loan switch to Spanish club Elche on deadline day.

‘The squad is the most important thing,’ Ferdinand said. ‘Keeping the harmony and ambience in the squad is the be-all and end-all if you’re going to make strides to be a more positive football club, where you aren’t going to have those distractions around.

‘The last thing anyone needs is Garnacho, Rashford, Sancho, Antony, etc being around the place and having to train separately. There’s always going to be an undercurrent of a negative story hanging around the place if they stayed. So I think it’s good for everybody that they’ve got out.’

United have four points from their first three Premier League games, having lost to Arsenal, drawn to Fulham and beaten Burnley. They will face Manchester City in their first game after the international break.

Ferdinand questioned why members of United’s Bomb Squad have been allowed to leave without a permanent agreement being in place

That will be without Sancho, though, who hasn’t played for United since a public falling out with former boss Erik ten Hag. He could, though, line up for Villa against Everton in their first game after the break.

Rasmus Hojlund also joined Napoli and Anthony signed for Real Betis, while Senne Lammens joined from Royal Antwerp for £21.7m

‘When I spoke to the manager he gave me belief and confidence,’ Sancho told Villa’s club website of Unai Emery. ‘He showed me the plan of what they want to achieve this year and it really inspired me.

‘He definitely persuaded me, and I can’t wait to work under him.’