ERIK TEN HAG has no idea when Jadon Sancho will return to action after a series of heart-to-heart talks with the troubled star.
Manchester United’s £73million winger missed the club’s break in Spain last week and is working alone on a specialised schedule to help him recover physically and mentally from his problems.
Sancho, 23, who agreed with boss Ten Hag to a trip to the Netherlands for fitness and mental wellness last month, is unlikely to play for United again before the New Year.
Ten Hag said: “I have had several talks with Jadon. Right now, he is not here.
“We got a drop of level and that happens sometimes, you don’t know why or what is causing it.
“That is what we’re doing now, trying to research and now we try to get him back there. It’s a combination of physical but also mentally.
“We want to bring him back as quickly as possible but I can’t give a prognosis of when that will be.”
Sancho has not played for United since the 1-1 Premier League draw with Chelsea on October 22.
The former Borussia Dortmund wideman suffered a bout of illness while Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho both shone on the left flank in his absence.
Sancho closed his social media accounts before spending time in the Netherlands, with the club stating he wanted to concentrate on his family and fitness.
But he did not travel with his team-mates for their two-game Spanish break last week.
Ten Hag saw a massive drop in the player’s pre- season performances after just a few games of the new Prem campaign.
Sancho will not be in the squad to take on Burnley in their Carabao Cup fourth-round tie next Wednesday.
In July last year he missed a penalty in England’s shootout defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
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The other unlucky England players that day, Rashford and Bukayo Saka, returned to the squad and were key parts of the World Cup campaign.
But after his drop in form, Sancho was not even in the running for a place on the plane to Qatar.
Meanwhile, his Old Trafford and England team-mates Rashford, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire will be offered special counselling if they need it to get over their World Cup heartbreak.
Even when France’s Raphael Varane and Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez return — either as a winner or a loser — there will be someone on hand to help them.
United’s backroom staff found it difficult to lift players after last year’s Euros, especially the Three Lions contingent.
Ten Hag added: “We are prepared for every situation.
“There will be some who are really happy and some really disappointed.
“And something can be in between, maybe, when you’re playing the final but lose, you’re going to first be really disappointed.”
