Erik ten Hag says Jadon Sancho will return to first-team duties when he's 'physically' and 'mentally' ready

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says Jadon Sancho is struggling "physically and mentally", and does not know when he will return as the World Cup draws to a close.

Sancho, who missed the club's training camp in Spain last week, is currently working on an individual programme in the Netherlands, where he is training alone at North Brabant amateur club OJC Rosmalen.

It's been a tough start to life at Old Trafford since his big-money move from Borussia Dortmund last summer. In fact, he was left out of Gareth Southgate's 26-man World Cup squad after a loss of form.

The 22-year-old hasn't played for United since October 22 after suffering from illness, and missed their final four games before the winter break as a result.

Sancho is currently taking a break from social media to focus on his football, with the Manchester Evening News reporting that the forward also wanted to use the World Cup break as an opportunity to focus on his family life.

And as well as walking away from the likes of Instagram and Twitter, the player is trying to improve his fortunes on the pitch.

As mentioned earlier, Sancho is in the Netherlands and will not return to United until he is "physically and mentally" ready to play for the club again, according to Erik ten Hag.

After being asked if he will play a part in the club's EFL Cup clash against Burnley next week, Ten Hag said: "I don’t think he [Sancho] will be back this week, no.

"We want to bring him back as quickly as possible, but I can’t give a prognosis of when that will be.

"Sometimes there are circumstances with fitness and mood. We got a drop of quality level and sometimes you don’t know why or what is causing it.

"That is what we are doing now to try to get him back there. It is a combination of physically and mentally."

Image credit: Alamy

Ten Hag said he wasn't sure if his omission from the England squad for this winter's World Cup has played a part in his decline, but says he understood Southgate's decision.

"There’s huge competition with England,’ he said. "Even at the World Cup, every game is difficult to know who to start because there’s so much talent in the offensive line.

"When you don’t show it week by week you can fall out of the squad, which is what happened."

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