Cristiano Ronaldo once lobbied for Manchester United to change formation in a move that would have seen Jadon Sancho dropped.
Sancho moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021 when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge in the hope of becoming a key man after joining for £73million from Borussia Dortmund.
Ronaldo once tried to get Rangnick to change his formation
This would have spelled bad news for Sancho who was in fine form at the time
However his status in the team was undermined when Ronaldo completed his sensational return to Old Trafford from Juventus.
Sancho endured a slow start under Solskjaer, but enjoyed a run of improved performances as Ralf Rangnick joined the club as interim boss.
Unfortunately, Ronaldo had other ideas, according to The Athletic, who claim that the Portuguese star tried to influence the club’s playing style.
This meant lobbying for Rangnick to switch from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 formation, leaving Sancho on the bench a result.
Thankfully for the youngster, Rangnick stood his ground and insisted that a change in system would hamper the winger’s form, having just scored two goals in three games from the flank.
Sancho continued to be a key player under the interim boss, but since then, the player has struggled to meet expectations.
In Erik ten Hag’s first season, Sancho scored seven and created three in 41 appearances for Man United, but this term his future at the club seems very much in doubt after the Dutch boss criticised his effort on the training ground.
Speaking after the Arsenal game, Ten Hag said: “Jadon, on his performance in training, was not selected.
Sancho is currently in the middle of another difficult patch under Ten Hag
“You have to reach a level at Manchester United every day and we can make choices in the front line. So for this game he was not selected.”
But Sancho was having none of it, writing in a now-deleted social media post: “Please don’t believe everything you read!
“I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week.
“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!”
With Man United soon to be returning from the international break, it’ll be interesting to see how heavily Sancho features in the club’s plans.
