Erik ten Hag made a ‘big mistake’ when he let Jadon Sancho leave Manchester United earlier in the season, according to Mark Lawrenson.

England international Sancho returned to his former team Borussia Dortmund on loan in January following a disagreement with Ten Hag at the season’s outset.

Sancho was sidelined by the Old Trafford manager after he declined to apologize for his social media reply to Ten Hag’s accusation of underperformance in training.

Manchester United invested more than £70 million to acquire Sancho from Dortmund in 2021, but the 24-year-old had difficulties over two seasons before becoming out of favor this term.

Sancho has remained underwhelming in the Bundesliga, netting only two goals in 15 appearances for Dortmund. Despite this, Lawrenson still thinks it was a ‘mistake’ for Erik Ten Hag to approve his departure.

‘Erik ten Hag letting Jadon Sancho go was a big mistake given the form of some of the Manchester United players – you can’t say he wouldn’t have done better than them,’ the Liverpool legend told Paddy Power.

‘It was a decision that ten Hag took, but they could have used Sancho for the second half of the season. He’s a talented player and would have been useful for them, so I think he made a mistake with letting him go to Germany.’

Although Sancho hasn’t made a significant impact since his return to Dortmund, he contributed to the team reaching the Champions League semi-finals, starting in both legs of their quarter-final victory against Atletico Madrid.

However, former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has rejected claims that Sancho has ‘proved a point’ to the Old Trafford club with his performances in European competitions.

‘I don’t believe he’s proving any point,’ Saha told Betfred. ‘The only point he’s proving is that he’s a talented player and if he wasn’t stubborn, he could have been doing what he’s doing for Borussia Dortmund for Manchester United now.

‘He hasn’t proven anything. There’s no doubt about his talent, but his attitude has been challenged during his time with Manchester United and the way he’s dealt with it has been to the risk of his own career.

‘Erik ten Hag knew he was missing the opportunity to play a good player and that’s it.  It was a situation where the player, manager and club were all losing simultaneously.

‘It’s all about ego and the club has to stop allowing those things to happen because it’s just not right. All that’s been proven is that things like this shouldn’t be happening at such a big club.’

Borussia Dortmund is anticipated to make an offer to Manchester United to secure Sancho on a permanent basis when the season ends.