The United boss is refusing to back down in his stand-off with Sancho, who has been banished from the first-team squad for calling Ten Hag a liar after he was dropped from last month’s defeat at Arsenal due to a poor attitude in training.

According to Mail Sport, Ten Hag has highlighted Sancho’s influence on other players as a cause for concern.

The Dutchman is understood to have told the club that the attitude of other players in training has improved since Sancho was exiled, with their team spirit reflected in Saturday’s dramatic injury-time win over Brentford despite a patchy performance.

Ten Hag is demanding that Sancho make both a public apology and say sorry in front of his teammates before he can return to the squad, a stance which has the full backing of his employers, but five weeks after, he is yet to apologise.

United are so eager to offload Sancho in January that they are willing to subsidize his £300,000-a-week wages if they are able to agree a loan move for the rest of the season.

According to reports, Twitter and Facebook have been ‘working very closely’ with investigating police officers, to look into dozens of people’s racist tweets after five people were arrested in the wake of Sunday’s final.

The tech giants will provide names, emails and IP addresses of users who are believed to have sent discriminatory messages if requested by the authorities, the Times reports.

On Thursday, the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU)  provided an update on its investigation following abusive posts targeting Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka in the wake of the Three Lions’ defeat on penalties to Italy.

Three of the suspects have already been publicly identified – plasterer Brad Pretty, 49, from Folkestone, Kent; estate agent Andrew Bone, 37, from Sale, Cheshire; and children’s football coach Nick Scott, 50, from Powick, Worcestershire.

A fourth suspect, a 37-year-old man from Ashton-upon-Mersey in Greater Manchester, was then arrested yesterday, officials said, before a fifth, a 42-year-old man from Runcorn was then detained by police in Cheshire today.

Twitter has since removed more than 1,000 posts in the 24 hours during and after the match and suspended a number of accounts for violating its rules. Facebook also confirmed that abusive comments on its platform and Instagram have been removed.

Data from analytics company Crisp, which works with top-flight football clubs, found England players faced 12,500 hate messages on social media during Euro 2020, including banana and monkey emojis.

The company said abuse from 10,000 accounts was aimed directly at players, through Twitter and Instagram, and includes comments about race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, as well as extreme personal abuse and threats of harm, including to family members.

Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s chief executive, told the Times that mistakes in the company’s detection software had allowed abusive posts to slip through, but that these had now been fixed.

He explained: ‘It is absolutely not OK to send racist emojis, or any kind of hate speech, on Instagram’.

A UKFPU statement read: ‘Following England’s defeat against Italy on Sunday a torrent of racist comments aimed at some of the team’s black players appeared on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A hate crime investigation is underway by the UKFPU, with a dedicated team of investigators working their way through a large number of reports from across the country. So far, dozens of data applications have been submitted to social media companies and four people have been arrested by local police forces.’

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council football policing lead, said “The racial abuse aimed at our own players following Sunday night’s game is utterly vile and has quite rightly shocked and appalled people across the country. Our England team have been true role models during the tournament, conducting themselves with professionalism and dignity.  I’m disgusted there are individuals out there who think it’s acceptable to direct such abhorrent abuse at them, or at anybody else. The UKFPU investigation is well underway and work continues to identify those responsibly. We are working very closely with social media platforms, who are providing data we need to progress enquiries. If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions”

The three black footballers all lost their penalities and following the loss they were racially abused online. As if the racial abuse was not enough,  a mural of Rashford in his home town of Withington was also defaced in a ‘racially aggravated’ act of vandalism.

In order to support the three players, sports social media publisher SPORTbible on Tuesday, July 13, launched a giant digital billboard of the three players wearing crowns with the strapline ‘never apologise for who you are’.

The move comes after Rashford apologised for his penalty miss but said he ‘will never apologise for who I am after he was one of three players subjected to racist abuse.

The Manchester United forward, who was left visibly distraught after his penalty hit the post, also paid tribute to his supportive teammates and vowed to ‘come back stronger after the heartbreaking finale to Euro 2020.

The trio missed from the spot as the Italian team won 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the final game ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday morning, July 12, Southgate hit out after mindless social media trolls racially abused Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho after they missed penalties at the team’s Euro 2020 final loss.

He said “It’s just not what we stand for. We have been a beacon of light in bringing people together in people being able to relate to the national team, and the national team stands for everybody and so that togetherness has to continue. We have shown the power our country has when it does come together and has that energy and positivity together. It’s my decision who takes the penalties, it’s not a case of players not volunteering or more experienced players backing out.’

Prince William this morning said he was sickened by racist abuse of the England team, describing vile slurs at players as ‘totally unacceptable.

The Duke of Cambridge, who was at the game last night, called for those behind the messages to be punished.

He said “I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night’s match. It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour. ‘It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable”

The Premier League will finally land Sancho after the two clubs agreed on a compromise fee for the 21-year-old winger. Dortmund accepted United’s third offer of this window which will see them pay the £72.9m – understood to be spread over four years, with no further add-ons.

Sancho will officially join after England’s participation in the Euros, subject to passing a medical.

The forward’s contract at Dortmund runs until the summer of 2023 and they do not want to risk him entering the final year of his deal.

The 21-year-old came through Watford’s academy before joining City in 2015, but he moved on to Dortmund in 2017 after rejecting an offer of a new contract at the Etihad.

Sancho established himself as a key player at Dortmund and has scored 50 goals in 137 appearances for the German club.

Manchester United will host rivals Leeds United at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the 2021/22 Premier League season.

Talks are ongoing but the clubs are understood to be around £14m apart in valuation for the 21-year-old. Dortmund wants £77m plus bonuses and wants the fee paid over four years as opposed to United’s proposal to pay over five.

All parties are wary of transfer talks turning into another saga with Dortmund wanting business tied up by July 23 when their squad comes together for pre-season camp.

Dortmund has an agreement with Sancho that he can leave once his valuation is met and United are the main contenders for his signature.