Former Chelsea man John Obi-Mikel has criticized Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag for publicly criticizing Jadon Sancho, saying the Dutchman should have dealt with the matter in the dressing room.

Sancho has been training with the U21 team after refusing to apologize to Ten Hag for calling him a liar on social media. The Englishman’s comments came after Ten Hag criticized his training-pitch performance. He cited it as the reason behind Sancho’s omission from the team that faced Arsenal on September 3.

The Ten Hag-Sancho issue has divided followers into two factions — one that sees Sancho as the culprit and another that pins it on Ten Hag. Obi-Mikel has firmly pledged allegiance to the latter, suggesting the former Ajax man should have followed in Sir Alex Ferguson’s footsteps.

Obi-Mikel Slams Ten Hag’s Treatment Of Sancho

Speaking on The Obi One podcast, Obi-Mikel said that one cannot put the blame on Sancho, as it was the manager who made a blunder by calling the winger out at a press conference.

“I think that [calling Sancho out] should be a no-no. Everybody is going about Sancho not apologizing, I have a different view on that. My view is that the manager shouldn’t have said what he said in public,” said the former Nigeria international.

“I wouldn’t come out publicly. When you listen to the ex-United players they’ve all said one thing: When things like this happened before [during Sir Alex Ferguson], it was dealt with inside the dressing room, he handled it.”

He continued:

“It doesn’t matter how he handled it but he handled it. You cannot come out publicly and criticize a player and say he wasn’t training really well.

“What do you expect the player to do You came out publicly, I came out publicly, why do you expect me to apologize I think it should have been dealt with privately. If he was late to training, he wasn’t performing, there’s a different way to deal with it.”

Sancho Could Leave Manchester United In January

With no resolution in sight, Sancho’s Manchester United career hangs in the balance. And according to renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano, a premature Old Trafford exit could be the outcome of the ongoing feud between the winger and his manager.

As per the Italian journalist, United are still waiting for Sancho to apologize. However, if he refuses to do so, the club will offload him when the transfer window opens in January. Meanwhile, Italian clubs Roma and Juventus have been linked with the England international, but Romano feels a move to the Bundesliga seems more likely.

Former club Borussia Dortmund have emerged as a potential destination for Sancho. The German club, however, are yet to make up their minds about the transfer.