Erik ten Hag insists Jadon Sancho is in control of his own Manchester United future after being banished from the first team.
Sancho was dropped from the squad that fell to Arsenal before the international break and accused Ten Hag of making him a "scapegoat" after the boss questioned his work rate during training.
After leaving public criticism of the manager up on his social media feed for a week, Sancho declined to apologise to Ten Hag for his comments and was subsequently ordered to train away from the senior squad.
In the immediate aftermath of the decision to discipline Sancho, Ten Hag admitted he "did not know" whether the winger would ever play for the club again.
Now, however, the boss appears to have extended a lifeline to Sancho, informing the 23-year-old he is in control of his own destiny at United.
"It depends on him," Ten Hag said when asked if Sancho's time at the club could be coming to an end. "For the rest, we are preparing for Burnley and that's our focus.
"He will not be in the squad."
While Sancho will definitely miss out, Ten Hag was hopeful that a handful of his injured players could be in line to return against Burnley.
"Harry Maguire, we will see again after training," he continued. "But [Raphael] Varane will train, we will see, [Sofyan] Amrabat will train, we will see and [Mason] Mount as well.
"But they didn't play for short or longer-term. Varane, obviously, was the shortest out."
United have slipped to 13th in the Premier League table but are heavy favourites heading into a meeting with a Burnley side who have picked up just one point from their opening four games in England's top flight.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Erik ten Hag sends Jadon Sancho message over Man Utd return.