Manchester United have denied reports that their players were involved in a furious dressing room row in the aftermath of their 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton on Saturday.
The Red Devils continued their turbulent season which has been plagued by problems on and off the pitch – with Erik ten Hag already embroiled in a row with Jadon Sancho over his training performances.
The campaign has also sparked discontent among supporters over the Glazers’ failure to sell the club as takeover talks drag on, with the toxic atmosphere seemingly having an impact on the players after three defeats in their first five games.
The dismal defeat to the Seagulls at Old Trafford has now seen them drop to 13th in the Premier League, with club legend Gary Neville claim that the club is a ‘culture of greed and ill-discipline‘ that was caused by the Glazer family’s ownership.
The sun have now claimed that in the aftermath of the latest defeat, four stars were involved in a dressing room break-in.
Manchester United have denied reports that players were involved in a dressing room break-in
Erik ten Hag’s team has had a turbulent start to the season and has lost three games
The report claims that captain Bruno Fernandes was one of the main high-profile stars involved after the confrontation with teammate Scott McTominay.
Defenders Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof – who both played 90 minutes together – are also said to have ‘lost it with each other’, with manager Ten Hag ‘attempting to restore order’ as a post-match investigation began.
However, Manchester United have refuted the report’s claims when contacted by Mail Sport.
United are also without winger Antony, who is taking time away from the first team after being accused of assault in Brazil. Meanwhile, the club also decided to loan Mason Greenwood to Getafe after attempted rape and assault charges against him were dropped.
Pundit and former United defender Neville had already hinted at tensions in the dressing room this week when he suggested unhappy players could be ‘insects’ creating ‘discomfort and uncertainty’ among Ten Hag’s ranks.
The report claims that captain Bruno Fernandes confronted teammate Scott McTominay (R).
It is also claimed that Victor Lindelof (L) and fellow defender Lisandro Martinez ‘lost it’
United’s season has also seen tensions arise over the futures of both Jadon Sancho (left) and Harry Maguire (right)
‘All I want to say is: how popular is Sancho in the dressing room? How popular is Maguire in the dressing room?’ Neville said in a video posted to his TikTok account.
“He has some bugs where we don’t know from the outside what discomfort and uncertainty is being created inside.
“You’ve got a player who’s probably changing in the first-team dressing room but who’s clearly done with the academy.
“You’ve got Harry Maguire, who was captain of these players 12 months ago and now he’s almost alienated from the third, fourth, fifth centre-backs.
“So that’s him [Ten Hag] I have experienced a number of situations there of which I do not know the damage, but as far as his work on the field is concerned, I do not think Erik ten Hag will change.’
Ten Hag has already had to deal with one player after dropping Sancho 3-1 against Arsenal before the international break. The player has now been ordered to stay away from first-team training through his social media post, in response to his pre-match ban.
The Dutchman said he had not singled out the England winger for his ‘training performance’, before the player hit back saying his claims were ‘completely untrue’, insisting he had been made a scapegoat.
Sancho was embroiled in a row with Ten Hag after posting a tweet hitting back at claims made by the Dutchman about his training performance
Sancho remains banned until he apologizes to Ten Hag, who is presumably furious
“Jadon, we did not select him because of his performance in training,” Ten Hag said after the defeat to Arsenal.
‘At Manchester United you have to reach a level every day and on the front line we can make choices. So he has not been selected for this match.’
Sancho immediately tried to clarify his comments, claiming they were ‘completely untrue’, writing: ‘Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people to say things that are (sic) completely untrue. I conducted myself very well during training this week.
“I believe there are other reasons for this issue that I won’t go into. I have been a scapegoat for a long time, which is not fair! ‘All I want is to play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team.
‘I respect all the decisions made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and am grateful for that, which I know is a challenge every week.
“I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”
After Sancho returned to Carrington for training the following week, the player is said to have held discussions with Ten Hag about his post, before United released a statement saying he would be training alone for the time being.
It said: ‘Jadon Sancho will continue to undertake a personal training program away from the first-team squad pending a resolution to a squad discipline issue.’
