Jadon Sancho has undergone a rocky path in his Manchester United career so far and now he’s being accused of putting on weight in his vacation. The Englishman had a really topsy-turvy outing under Erik ten Hag last season that was full of drama.
After failing to impress in his debut season for the Red Devils, Sancho appeared to have found his groove under the Dutchman initially. He even scored a stellar goal in the 2-1 win over Liverpool, which marked their first competitive victory under Ten Hag. Things, however, de-escalated from there.
Sancho failed to comply with the manager’s demands and wasn’t putting in enough work in training or in matches. As a result, the Dutchman sent him into ‘exile’ during the Qatar World Cup break. This lasted for many months, as Sancho trained with Dutch amateur club OJC Rosmalen for multiple months before returning to Old Trafford.
Jadon Sancho goes viral for wrong reason
The Englishman has shown sparks of briliace in his United career so far, but has been unable to validate his £73 million signing from Borussia Dortmund. He’s frustrated fans – being accused of ‘trying too much’ in the final third and lacking consistency in delivering goals. It’s clear that the 23-year-old has lot to work on to regain his incredible form at Dortmund – which saw him contribute 114 goals in 137 appearances for them.
Sancho has shown a dedication to grow under Ten Hag after the ‘exile’ and reported for pre-season training early. But amid this, a video released by United has amassed a lot of views from rival fans that appear to have targeted the winger. Soon after the clips released, a lot of fans seemed to pinpoint a change in the Englishman’s appearances.
Suddenly, a picture of him having grown some stomach fat and gained weight became viral all over social media. The picture, which shows the 23-year-old winger from his side and interacting with United coach Darren Fletcher, seems to indicate that he might’ve let himself go in his vacations and gained some pounds around his stomach area.
Sancho has been widely mocked for becoming overweight and not taking his football career seriously despite his struggles at Old Trafford. However, not many of the rival fans actually even cared about looking into the authenticity of their slanderous claims.
The truth behind the Sancho viral picture
The reality of the viral picture, however, is something different altogether. Sancho has not been reported to have gained some pounds or to have turned up to pre-season training out of shape. This viral picture is just a random screenshot taken in a very specific moment in the video released by the club.
In truth, that is not Sancho’s stomach that is standing out – but probably a case of the wind making him look fat. Normally, the light training kits worn by the United players are so lightweight that a gust of heavy wind can get them flying off a person’s body and moving in a certain direction.
In this case, the wind just dragged Sancho’s t-shirt to move out from the direction of his stomach – which is what is possibly making him look overweight.
Another major reason why this viral picture is fabricated is that there are no other pictures to support claims of him having gained some pounds. In fact, another picture of Sancho being new signing Mason Mount shows him looking in perfect shape and no signs of growing fat. Social media can be full of fabricated and fake things, with Sancho being the latest victim of this.
Considering the kind of criticism he’s attracted in recent years, the Englishman will be barely bothered by these accusations. Instead he should be laser-focused on working on the issues in his style and ensure he can perform at an optimum level next season.