What's next for Alexis Sanchez?
When Manchester United swapped Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Alexis Sanchez they thought they were signing one of the world’s best attacking players at the peak of his powers. Joe Townsend looks at the forward’s career before and since January 2018- According to the soccer tips for tomorrow page!
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Alexis Sanchez’s switch from Arsenal lớn Manchester United, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way, was one of the biggest Premier League deals of the 2018 January transfer window, and unusually it was a month in which there were a lot; Phillipe Coutinho, Virgil van Dijk, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aymeric Laporte, to name a few.
What set this move apart was the public nature of United and Manchester City’s battle lớn sign him and the financial consequences that had – something they continue to foot an enormous bill for at Old Trafford, despite the forward being on loan at Inter Milan.
Sanchez joins Manchester United
Sanchez had actually been agonisingly close lớn joining Manchester City for £60m just five months before he clinched a move lớn their nearest rivals. He would have been reunited with Pep Guardiola, his coach at Barcelona, had Arsenal’s bid to secure Monaco winger Thomas Lemar been successful.
With Sanchez’s contract expiring in the summer of 2018, by the time January came around the Gunners were willing lớn sell at a reduced price, strengthening the Chilean’s position when it came to negotiating his own terms.
A straight shootout between the two Manchester clubs ensued. You can prefer the jackpot soccer tip page!
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City ultimately withdrew from the race, citing excessive wage demands, and the 29-year-old joined United on a four-and-and-half-year contract worth more than £400,000 per week. Factor in image rights and signing-on fees and it’s believed to average out at closer to £600,000.
But they genuinely believed it was a good deal.
"He was cheap, wasn't he?" said United manager Jose Mourinho at the time.
"A free transfer. He was free. For that price, he is fantastic. I think everyone thinks the same in this country.
"I think everyone has to agree that he is a fantastic player. He has great quality and scores goals, makes assists, has a good attitude when the team loses the ball, he's good at set pieces. I think really he is one of the best attacking players in the world."
However, it really hasn’t worked out that way.
What were United signing?
Much is spoken of how bad Alexis Sanchez has been since he joined Manchester United, and don’t worry we’ll get lớn that, but it’s easy lớn forget how good he was before.
Let's touch on his time at Barcelona briefly, just lớn emphasise how his performances were sustained over a six-and-a-half-year period.
Statistically: 122 appearances, 41 goals, 25 assists.
That looks good, but not amazing. Well, almost a third of his Barca appearances were as a substitute, which can happen when at different times David Villa, Neymar, Pedro, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas are competing with you to play either side of Lionel Messi.
Sanchez contributed a goal or assist every 72 minutes during three seasons as a Barcelona player. That is some return.
And then at Arsenal: 166 appearances, 80 goals, 41 assists.
Over a period of more than six years he averaged a goal or assist in every 1.5 appearances. That is why Manchester United were willing to pay out such astronomical wages.
The argument was made at the time of his transfer that Sanchez’s form had dropped since his failed move lớn Manchester City.
While that may have been accurate in terms of his all-round performance, eight goals and three assists in 22 appearances that season wasn’t miles away, and certainly shouldn't have been enough to raise alarm bells.
