Erik ten Hag says Jadon Sancho ‘issue’ not resolved despite starring Borussia Dortmund role

Erik ten Hag said he was not surprised Jadon Sancho played a starring role in helping Borussia Dortmund reach the Champions League semi-finals but that it has not given him a renewed chance of having a future at Old Trafford.

The Manchester United manager revealed that Alejandro Garnacho had said sorry to him for liking tweets criticising his decision to substitute the Argentinian in last week’s draw at Bournemouth.

Whereas Sancho has not played for the club, and has refused to apologise for a social-media post about Ten Hag, since August.

The £73m winger was loaned back to his former club Dortmund in January and has since made 14 appearances, starting both legs of their Champions League quarter-final victory over Atletico Madrid.

But Ten Hag suggested it will not offer Sancho a way back into his plans, saying: “No (nothing has changed about his future), but we know Jadon Sancho is a fantastic football player, so that is not a surprise for us. That is not the issue.

“I follow international football and follow the players on loan at other clubs. It was a fantastic game, Dortmund against Atletico Madrid, a great performance from Dortmund and for Jadon it’s good news, he made his contribution to the result for Dortmund.”

Garnacho remains very much in his plans for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Coventry after Ten Hag forgave him for what he sees as a youthful mistake. He added: “Alejandro is a young player, he has to learn a lot. He apologised for it and after that we move on.”

Ten Hag hopes Antony and Scott McTominay, who both missed the Bournemouth game, should be back in contention for the trip to Wembley.

“I expect them to be back,” Ten Hag said. “Scott didn’t train all week, partial on Wednesday, today I expect him in full [training]. Antony did train all week.”

Harry Maguire, United’s only senior specialist centre-back, is a doubt but is likely to be available, with Ten Hag adding: “Harry had a small injury. He didn’t train this week so far but now he is back on the pitch. We expect him to be back for Sunday, I hope.”