Pep Guardiola was left frustrated by Jadon Sancho's attitude long before his bitter falling out with Manchester United.

Sancho is currently on loan at Chelsea from United, with the Blues having an obligation to sign the Englishman for around £25million this summer should they finish 14th or higher in the Premier League. Once one of Europe’s most-coveted prospects at Manchester City and then at Borussia Dortmund, Sancho’s £73m transfer to United in July 2021 marked a major turning point in his career for all the wrong reasons.

His performances for the Red Devils left plenty to be desired before a clash with previous head coach Erik ten Hag saw him frozen out of the team and loaned back to Dortmund in January 2024. Yet, despite patching things up with Ten Hag and moving to Stamford Bridge at the start of this season, it appears the 24-year-old is not ready to forgive and forget just yet.

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He appeared to take a dig at United by commenting “freedom”, along with a prayer and a raised hand emoji, under Marcus Rashford’s Instagram post on Sunday after the latter’s debut for Aston Villa. Rashford joined Villa on deadline day this January after being accused of training poorly and being frozen out by current Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim.

Sancho endured a similar experience when Ten Hag revealed after United’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal back in September 2023 that the winger wasn’t part of the matchday squad because of poor performances in training. The Englishman hit back an hour later by taking to social media and, in essence, accusing his manager of lying.

He wrote: "Please don't believe everything you read. I will not allow people to say things that are completely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't go into. I've been a scapegoat for a long time, which isn't fair."

Sancho refused to apologise for his comments, which proved a sticking point as he was exiled from the first team and relegated to training with academy players as a disciplinary measure.

But his history of difficult relationships in football extends beyond Ten Hag and United. His attitude and commitment also came under question while still a teenage youth prospect at rivals City and on the cusp of a first-team breakthrough.

ESPN reported that City experienced stubbornness from the south Londoner during a contract stand-off when he was just 17 years old. Manager Guardiola then omitted the youngster from their 2017 preseason tour of America, with Sancho instead being required to attend training sessions at the City Football Academy.

He was said to have failed to turn up on a number of occasions, with coaching staff unable to reach him. By the end of that summer, his relationship with the club was irreparable and he was allowed to leave for Dortmund.

Guardiola, widely considered to be one of the best managers in football history, went on to say in 2019: "I don't know [why Sancho left City]. He didn't want to take this challenge, this opportunity to discover if he was able to [break into the first team]."

Benni McCarthy, who was a first team coach during Ten Hag’s United tenure, further echoed Guardiola and Ten Hag’s issues with Sancho by claiming he refused to apologise to the latter because he didn’t want to develop a reputation as a poor or lazy trainer.

Sancho was able to rekindle some of his form while on loan back at Dortmund last season, helping the German giants reach the Champions League final. However, he is yet to take Stamford Bridge by storm this term, with two goals and six assists in 22 appearances this season.