Michael Carrick refuses to close the door on Jadon Sancho's unlikely Man Utd return

Michael Carrick has refused to close the door for Manchester United outcast Jadon Sancho to make his Old Trafford return after ‘finding himself’ at Aston Villa.

The 25-year-old signed for the Red Devils for a whopping £73million in 2021, but has failed to ever justify that outlay. Sancho’s only appearance since a social media post aimed at Erik ten Hag in September 2023, was in the Community Shield at Wembley in 2024.

Before that, he spent the second half of the 2023/24 season with former club Borussia Dortmund, before joining Chelsea for the duration of the following campaign.

He was expected to make a move to Stamford Bridge permanent, before the Blues decided to pay a penalty clause in order to not trigger the obligation in his deal.

In the summer of 2025, Ruben Amorim also deemed he was surplus to requirements and allowed him to join Aston Villa until the end of the season, when his contract is set to expire.

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But Carrick, who Sancho scored under during his first stint as caretaker boss, has said ‘we will have to wait and see’ when it comes to his long-term future.

Speaking ahead of the game with Villa, which Sancho is ineligible to play in, the interim United boss said: “You can never be surprised with anything in football.

“I think it’s one of those things. Sometimes you come to a club, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t quite work. That’s natural, it happens at every club.