Andy Townsend has accused Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag of having gone too far with his treatment of Jadon Sancho.
The latest claims in The Sun say that Sancho has been removed from the team WhatsApp group.
Sancho’s exclusion from the first team and solitary training sessions mark the latest development in an ongoing situation. Following a disagreement with the Dutchman, Ten Hag excluded the winger from the match day squad on September 3, attributing it to sub par training performance. Despite the 23-year-old defending himself online, his refusal to apologize to the Man United boss has led to his continued absence and exile from the team.
But talkSPORT host and former Premier League player Andy Townsend believes it is time for Sancho’s return.
Reacting to the latest claims, he said on the Sports Breakfast show: “It’s gone daft.
“I don’t agree with what Jadon Sancho has done, and I stand by that. But, I mean, crikey, you might as well say to the kid, ‘don’t even come in’. It’s ridiculous.”
When told the player currently has to eat lunch away from the first-team, he added: “I’m surprised you’re actually allowed to get away with [the punishment he’s been given].
“I’m surprised someone from the PFA hasn’t turned around and said. ‘hold on a minute’.
“It’s one thing to not like him or you don’t want him but you can’t just banish the guy completely from one side of the club to the other just because of an obvious disagreement.
“It has gone a little too far now I think.”
Townsend is not the only person to voice concern over Sancho’s treatment at Man United.
Former Tottenham star Jamie O’Hara previously claimed Ten Hag should have handled things differently.
“I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing to him,” O’Hara previously said on talkSPORT.
“I know he’s come out and made a statement, whether that was the right thing to do or not… but was it right of Ten Hag to dig him out when he wasn’t even involved with the group?
“We all know Jadon Sancho needs to be better on the football pitch. And how he does that is getting him back playing football, getting him training and enjoying his football.
“What they’re doing to him right now is never going to get Jadon Sancho back to his best.
“All you’re going to do is mentally damage the football player and make him feel worse than he already does. They should be ashamed of themselves.”