Failed transfers: the Alexis Sánchez Manchester United would rather forget

Since the end of legendary Sir Alex Ferguson’s coaching career, Manchester United have signed several players who have not proved to be the right choice. One of them is, of course, Chilean winger Alexis Sánchez. Expectations were high after his transfer from Arsenal, but the performances he put in were appalling.

Alexis Sánchez in Arsenal

Alexis Sánchez shone in an Arsenal jersey from the summer of 2014 to the winter of 2018, where he transferred from Barcelona. Together with Mesut Ozil, who came to London from Real Madrid, they dismantled almost every opponent’s defence. Unfortunately for both players, who rank among the best in the Gunners’ modern history, their time together didn’t bring much team glory.

During the aforementioned 3.5 years, the Chilean international scored 80 goals in the red and white jersey, to which he added 45 assists, and he did it all in 166 games. In January 2018, Sánchez was just included in the exchange between the English giants. Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed to London from the red part of Manchester and it was Alexis who went in the opposite direction.

In several interviews, the Chilean has stated that he wanted to leave Manchester after his first training session, telling The Guardian: “I realised many things in the first training session. When I came home I asked my managers if the contract could be cancelled, that I wanted to return to Arsenal. They laughed and told me everything was done.”

He was then picked by Jose Mourinho to join Manchester United. Mainly because of the need for a left winger, which was lacking at Old Trafford at the time. Yes, there was Marcus Rashford, but he didn’t meet the Portuguese coach’s requirements at the time. Alexis even picked “Ronaldo’s” number seven, putting a lot of pressure on himself before he could even start.

A contract by the numbers

By the end of the 2017/18 season, he had played 11 games for Manchester United in which he scored just 2 goals and 3 assists. For a player who is used to tallying similar numbers in half the number of games, that was a real misery. He lifted the fans out of their seats not with his dribbling, but with his lazy performance. He often looked like he didn’t care about the game and didn’t want to run.

The next season, which ironically was his last in the Premier League and in a Red Devils jersey, was not much better. 27 games and only 2 goals and 4 assists. Fans expected something completely different. However, Mourinho was sacked during the season, but Sánchez’s lazy display didn’t change even after the change of coach.

The best game he played for Manchester United was the city derby against the Citizens in April 2018. United turned the match from 0-2 in their favour. Alexis contributed to the turnaround with 2 assists. But the man of the match was a player who was also expected to do much more at Old Trafford. Another failed transfer is none other than Paul Pogba, who scored twice.

Why is Alexis’ transfer classed as a failure? Looking at his stats, it’s abundantly clear that it wasn’t. Moreover, when a player on a £500k a week wage gives the impression on the pitch that he doesn’t care how the game turns out, as long as it’s over soon, something is wrong. Red Devils fans would like to forget about Sánchez’s engagement, because he hasn’t given the club anything.

Source: Manchester United, Premier League