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

Jadon Sancho joined Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season when his Manchester United contract will expire, but Michael Carrick has refused to rule out a potential 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.

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.

“Jadon Sancho has got talent, that’s why he came to the club to start with, and he’s had some really good moments. For whatever reason, I don’t know, I’ve not been here for a period of time.

On a potential return, he added: “He’s ended up finding himself at Aston Villa, so he obviously had a good spell at Borussia Dortmund as well. Champions League final so he’s certainly got talent.

“He’s playing a lot this season so credit to him for that and he is having an impact you know and playing a lot of games. What happens next and how we move forward then we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Sancho has found some form under Unai Emery at Villa Park after a difficult start to his spell in the Midlands. He scored his first Villa goal at the end of January and has become a more regular part of the starting XI.

Villa have an option to make Sancho’s move permanent at the end of the season, but Emery has said he is waiting to decide whether that will be a route the club takes.

Asked if he had thought about signing him in the summer, Emery said: "Not yet, but he is a fantastic player. Hopefully he can help us by increasing his qualities in our structure like he is doing.

"He will need another contract, and maybe it could be here. If he plays his best football, we will want him. But also other teams could be involved in the interest for him."