The ManicaPost
Manchester United hoped that Alexis Sanchez would be the man to kickstart their resurgence but, just 19 months after his arrival at Old Trafford, the winger is joining Inter Milan on loan having endured a miserable time at the club.
Sanchez arrived at United in January 2018 as part of a swap that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head to Arsenal and at the time it seemed that the Red Devils were getting the better deal.
While Mkhitaryan has also been hugely disappointing for the Gunners, Sanchez’s struggles in Manchester have been significantly worse, with United getting very little in return for paying the Chilean a staggering £500,000 a week.
By the end Sanchez’s difficulties had become such an issue that both the club and the player were seeking a solution as quickly as possible. United will pay £4.5million of Sanchez’s £21million annual salary while he is on loan and there is no obligation for Inter to make the deal permanent.
A player of whom so much was expected ended up being one of United’s biggest flops, with injuries, struggles off the field and disappointing displays all adding up to a deal that went horribly wrong.
United announced Sanchez’s arrival with a cringeworthy video of the Chilean playing the piano, which was widely mocked on social media. That, though, was not nearly as embarrassing as some of his performances on the pitch.
Sanchez leaves United on loan with a woeful return of just five goals and nine assists in 45 appearances.
Perhaps United should have seen this coming. Sanchez’s final half a season at Arsenal may have seen him score eight goals, but he lacked his usual spark, perhaps as a consequence of over-exerting himself in previous years both at club level and for Chile, for whom he frequently featured in summer international tournaments.
Still, aged 29 when he joined, it was thought that Sanchez would still have much to offer United in their quest to challenge Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the table.
What United got though is a player who was a shadow of his former self. Sanchez’s touch was often heavy, his previous dynamism a distant memory. Sanchez’s struggles can also be partly attributed to his struggles off the pitch as he failed to fit in with the United squad.
At the club’s Carrington training ground, Sanchez was frequently miserable and often elected to eat alone rather than with his team-mates.
Sanchez joins the likes of Memphis Depay and Angel Di Maria who were unable to cope with the pressure of the iconic No 7 shirt at United, but Sanchez was arguably even worse than those two and seemed weighed down by the expectations placed upon him.
It appeared Sanchez’s problems also had a hugely negative effect on United overall, and it became apparent that it was for the best that he was dropped altogether, with Solskjaer instead turning his attention to younger players, such as summer arrival Daniel James.- Daily Mail.
