While the international break is now upon us, it does not look set to be a quiet week or so as far as Manchester United are concerned, with talk dominated by the situation involving manager Erik ten Hag and struggling winger, Jadon Sancho.
With the former Borussia Dortmund trickster having been a notable absentee from Sunday's matchday squad for the trip to Arsenal, Ten Hag subsequently confirmed that the player had been left out of the trip to the Emirates as a result of his underwhelming displays in training.
That surprise admission was followed by a quick response from the player on Twitter, with the 23-year-old insisting that such accusations were "untrue", while also going on to claim that he had been made a "scapegoat" at Old Trafford in recent times.
Such a statement is unlikely to go down well with a manager who has already ruthlessly shown Cristiano Ronaldo the door and stripped Harry Maguire of the captaincy in his tenure to date, with the end potentially nigh with regard to Sancho's time at the club.
What has happened to Sancho at Man United?
Quite what has gone wrong for the Englishman at the Theatre of Dreams is hard to ascertain, with it not too long ago that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lauded his shiny, new £73m signing as a player who would "form an integral part of [his] squad", following his arrival from Germany in 2021.
Having been forced to wait to get their hands on the one-time Manchester City asset – after failing to clinch a deal a year earlier – the hope was that Sancho would make up for lost time and hit the ground running in his new surroundings, after previously recording 114 goals and assists in 137 games for his previous employers.
As it has proved, the £350k-per-week enigma has since endured a particularly turbulent and underwhelming stint in red, notably missing a fair chunk of last season after being afforded time to address his "physical and mental" issues, as per Ten Hag.
That spell away from first-team action had seemingly been with one eye on helping to rejuvenate the misfiring marksman, although Sancho ended the season with just seven goals and three assists to his name in 41 games in all competitions.
With just 12 goals and assists in total in 82 outings over the past two years, it is easy to see why reports have indicated that the Red Devils were willing to cash in on the player over the summer for a fee of £45m, with Ten Hag said to have been growing 'increasingly impatient' with his shortcomings.
With that in mind, United may well rue their failure not to sign an adequate replacement for the London-born winger, with new West Ham United gem, Mohammed Kudus one such figure who could well have blossomed.
Did Man United want Mohammed Kudus?
As a player who worked under Ten Hag previously at Ajax, it was perhaps inevitable that Kudus would be the subject of speculation regarding a move to Old Trafford, with the Manchester Evening News naming him as a possible summer target amid his form at the World Cup in Qatar, after scoring twice for Ghana in the competition.
The Athletic's Andy Mitten also noted back in December that the 23-year-old was of interest to the United boss, among a handful of other targets, with the Dutchman said to admire the 'skill and dynamism' of his former asset.
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That was followed by further reports during the recent summer window that indicated that the Premier League giants were ready to enter the race for the forward's signature, with the player himself said to be keen on a reunion with Ten Hag.
Despite that apparent interest, the versatile gem – who can operate in midfield, on the flanks or in a centre-forward berth – ultimately sealed a £38m move to West Ham United last month, ensuring he could well wreak havoc on those at Old Trafford in the near future.
How good is Mohammed Kudus?
While the one-time Nordsjaelland sensation is yet to show his quality in the Premier League – having made just a late, stoppage time appearance for the Hammers against Luton Town at the weekend – he did dazzle in Amsterdam last term, scoring 18 goals and providing seven assists in 42 games in all competitions.
Hailed as a "star boy" by ex-teammate Calvin Bassey, Kudus was particularly eye-catching in the Champions League after netting four goals and contributing two assists in just six group games, including scoring in a 2-1 defeat away to Liverpool at Anfield.
The left-footed speedster appears to be particularly adept at dribbling past opponents with ease as he ranks in the top 1% among his European peers for successful take-ons, at an average of 4.37 per 90.
That record is far superior to what Sancho has achieved across the last 365 days as the United man averaged just 1.95 for that same metric, with pundit Tim Sherwood noting that he now "plays too safe", after losing that confidence and desire to try and beat his man.
Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell even went as far as to suggest that Kudus shared a likeness to current Gunners gem, Bukayo Saka, with the pundit stating that the new Irons ace "plays a bit like Saka", as he "welcomes the contact and shifts away from it".
Saka, of course, has been in sparkling form for the north Londoners in recent times after bagging 14 goals and providing 11 assists in the Premier League last season, with that a far greater return than that man Sancho, who registered just nine top-flight goal involvements in 2022/23.
To have been able to find their own version of the Arsenal wizard in the form of Kudus would have been simply a dream scenario for those at Old Trafford, although Ten Hag may have to instead witness the West Ham dynamo shining at the London Stadium.
In the meantime, the 53-year-old is stuck with a player in Sancho who is struggling to deliver and has openly hit back at his comments, with some sort of resolution needing to be found sooner rather than later in what is yet another unwanted distraction for the club.