Man Utd Boss Hints At Jadon Sancho Return Ahead Of Reading FA Cup Clash

Jadon Sancho could finally make his Manchester United return as the Red Devils host Reading in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.

The 23-time England international hasn’t played since October when United drew 1-1 with Chelsea.

Erik ten Hag confirmed that Sancho was out due to ‘physical and mental issues’ after the forward returned to training last week.

Ten Hag: "In this moment he [Sancho] is not fit enough, no. I said, physical. But physical is also the connection with mental. But I think he is now making good progress on the physical part and that will help him. I hope he can return quickly but I can't say a duration."

— utdreport (@utdreport) January 5, 2023

Ten Hag has now revealed that the 22-year-old is in contention for a place in the squad for this weekend’s game against Reading and could feature for the first time in the three months.

“He is training with the team and we will see,” said Ten Hag in Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“He’s improving, he’s making steps and we will make the decision after training.”

He continued: “I said he’s on the way back, he’s making steps, he’s back in team training and we have to see when he’s ready to go back into the game.”

🎙"He is training… We will see"

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag revealed how far away he thinks Jadon Sancho is from playing for the club again 👀 pic.twitter.com/tKbjHDtw6w

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 27, 2023

Sancho didn’t take part in Man Utd’s winter camp in Spain during the World Cup, but instead followed an individual programme for eight weeks.

He followed his individual programme in the Netherlands with coaches recommended by ten Hag.

Diogo Dalot remains out injured, while left-back Luke Shaw is still a “question mark” after missing United’s 3-0 midweek League Cup victory over Nottingham Forest through illness.

According to FA Cup betting sites, Manchester United are priced at around 2/15 to defeat Reading, and are around 9/2 to lift the trophy on June 3.