When Manchester United signed Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal back in the January transfer window of 2018, few if any could have foreseen Chilean failing to settle at the club. Seen as the final piece in Jose Mourinho’s jigsaw puzzle Sanchez was tipped to go on and achieve great things at Old Trafford but unfortunately this never materialised and today we take a look at why he failed to settle.
Turn the clock back a few years and Alexis Sanchez was one of the most sought after players in European football. His excellent trickery on the ball combined with his ability to not only score goals but provide them as well made him a real special talent so when news broke regarding a transfer between Manchester United and Sanchez you couldn’t help but feel excited.
Having flourished at Arsenal, Sanchez was seen as the perfect man to lead United’s attack going forward. At 29-years of age Sanchez was in the peak of his powers and brought with him invaluable experience needed at a time when the Red Devils’ squad was at fairly young age. He was the world class signing needed which we felt would spearhead us to the title or win us the European Cup but throughout his two year stay at the club he never got close to those expectations.
Right from the off it was clear he didn’t hit the ground running. The Sanchez we had seen twist and turn defences inside out at Arsenal was no longer here and games were passing the Chilean by. His confidence dipped and the Sanchez of old never returned. Maybe it was the eye watering wages he was earning or maybe the pressure was just too much nobody can know for sure but one thing was clear Sanchez was no longer the same player.
There were the odd moments of brilliance from Sanchez. A goal in the FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham was a moment to remember and his late winner against Newcastle in the league too was a notable highlight, but it was still a far cry from the Sanchez of old and throughout his two year stay at the club he never got close to replicating that form.
His time at Old Trafford was officially brought to an end in August 2019 where it was announced he would be joining Inter Milan on a season long loan and it has been a familiar story with Sanchez in Italy where once again Sanchez has failed to live up to expectations.
He was seen as the signing needed to take United onto the next level and the signing to take Mourinho’s United side to the title but this never got close to happening and although his time at the club ended almost two years back you cant help but still feel disappointed to this day that this transfer never worked out because it really should have done.
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So What went wrong for Alexis Sanchez at Manchester United?