Bayern Munich would never have signed Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho as he “was already a troublemaker” at Dortmund, according to Mario Basler.
The England international came off the bench in the Red Devils’ first three Premier League matches of the season before being left out of their squad altogether for a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in September.
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag told reporters after the match that Sancho was omitted because of his poor performances in training, something which the Red Devils winger denied.
Sancho took to social media to reject those claims and insist he was being made a “scapegoat” for the club’s early poor form.
He eventually deleted the post but has refused to apologise to Ten Hag with the Man Utd manager banning him from first-team training.
It now seems almost certain that he will leave Old Trafford in the January transfer window, either on loan or permanently, with a number of clubs reportedly taking an interest.
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But former Germany midfielder Basler – who scored for Bayern Munich in their famous defeat to Man Utd in the 1999 Champions League final – insists his former club would never sign Sancho.
Basler told The Sun: “Bayern are very strict and, when they sign a player, his personality will have to fit in with the club.
“Sancho may be a good footballer but Bayern would not sign him because he’s not what they look for in a person.
“Sancho was already a troublemaker in Dortmund. His attitude is a problem and he has to change it.”
Harry Kane will return to England for the first time as a Bayern Munich player on Tuesday night when the Bavarians face Man Utd in the Champions League.
Kane has scored 22 goals in 18 Bundesliga and Champions League matches for the Germans and Basler is tipping him to be a legend at the Allianz Arena.
Basler added: “Harry will be a Bayern great, one of the best strikers to ever play for the club. He can smash Lewandowski’s record.
“Up front, Bayern are very strong, with Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Kane, who is a goal machine.”
Comparing the current Man Utd squad to the 1999 Champions League winning side, Basler continued: “In 1999 they had a terrific squad but that’s over now! And it will be tough to get back to those heights. Back then they had great players like Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Teddy Sheringham.
“In recent years they’ve had some problems, there’s been a lot of unrest, there have been lots of managerial changes and they have not won the league for a long time. In Germany they are no longer what they once were, the biggest English name.
“They don’t have one single player where I think: ‘He’s 100 per cent guaranteed to start at Bayern right now’.”
Man Utd need to beat Bayern Munich on Tuesday night and hope Galatasaray and Copenhagen play out a draw if they are to qualify for the last-16 of the Champions League.
But Basler has given Man Utd – who lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday – some hope ahead of their match with Bayern Munich, he said: “They only have three centre-backs. Matthijs de Ligt is out injured and Dayot Upamecano is injury-prone which affects the team’s stability. They concede a goal in almost every game, it’s their main conundrum.
“On Tuesday, they may decide to rest some players, which boosts United’s chances of winning — but Bayern won’t want to lose.
“I think there’ll be a winner in Copenhagen v Galatasaray and United may have to settle for third place.”
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