Alexis Sanchez ends his unhappy time at Manchester United – a lesson in the perils of excess, expense and appeasement
- Sanchez officially ends his stay at Old Trafford where so much was hoped for him, but so little delivered
- The Chilean will attempt to rehabilitate his career in Milan
A couple of days after he had signed for Manchester United, my seven years old, football mad nephew spotted Alexis Sanchez in a restaurant near Manchester Airport. The Chilean stood out, not because of his famous face, but also because he was the only other person there. Small talk and photos ensued. Sanchez spoke in faltering English but the one point he wanted to make to my brother was that he only wanted to join United and not City. He was a fully-formed player who was expected to be an Eric Cantona-style match winner, one who had turned City down. The ingredients promised much.
Pep Guardiola had wanted to sign the man he took from Udine to Barcelona, but City balked at the vast wage demands. Those demands would become United’s problem because other United players used them as a yardstick, but Sanchez was unanimously welcomed by fans when he signed and played “Glory Glory Man United” on a piano in January 2018, a happy month for United in which Jose Mourinho was seen to be doing so well that he signed an extended contract.
Month by month, 2018 would turn into a horrible year for United and Sanchez was sucked into that maelstrom of shifting styles, none of which suited his game. Had he signed in 2011 when United wanted him and were prepared to pay €35 million, things would likely have worked out as the club remained stable under Alex Ferguson. But instead Sanchez went for his first choice, Barca, (United were second, City third) and he had a decent time at Camp Nou where his job description could be described as “give the ball to Messi”.
A success at Barca and Arsenal, Sanchez was not for United, though he had his moments. A winner in a comeback at home to Newcastle, a header in the FA Cup semi-final. Each was supposed to herald the appearance of the real Sanchez.
They didn’t, but he didn’t help himself. Complaining that a fridge opened onto his legs in the dressing room brought ridicule. He was offered the chance to do some media and I was lined up to speak to him in Spanish on the US preseason tour of 2018. He pulled back and was the only player not to do some form of media. He wanted the money but little of the off-field responsibility that came with being a senior player. Stuff like this matters less when you’re playing well, but it means more when you’re not.
He was indulged and played in his best position, the left of a three where he once used to attack and drive inside on the right foot, with little effect.
A training ground argument with Mason Greenwood had echoes of one between the experienced Ruud van Nistelrooy and the younger Cristiano Ronaldo. Both managers sided with the young player and both established stars exited
Unhappy in Manchester after he’d enjoyed living in Italy, Spain and London, he’d also just come out of a long-term relationship. Teammates said he cut an isolated figure off the field and on it he failed to fit into the defensive side of United’s game and it showed, especially in Jose Mourinho’s touchline body language.
Sanchez would try – often too hard – but little came off for him. After the 2018 FA Cup final he was adrift from the rest of his defeated teammates who stood together to see Chelsea lift the trophy.
Injuries didn’t help and by the time he came on as an enforced substitute at home to Paris Saint-Germain in February and made his team weaker, all hope had gone for him. He was bought to shine against teams like PSG, not sink. And he wasn’t stupid; he knew that the people who paid his wages had lost belief in him.
Sanchez started only nine league games in 2018-19 and made 13 appearances, managing only two goals. He started only 31 United games in total, with just five goals.
United fans supported him, though. Late in 2018, they had begun singing “Jose’s at the wheel ... we’ve got Sanchez, Paul Pogba and Fred,” to The Stone Roses’ Waterfall. It seemed as if they couldn’t have chosen four worse people to celebrate in song at times over the next year, but while Fred and Pogba’s fortunes would improve, there was to be no second coming for Sanchez. He joined the flow of disillusioned talent from United to Internazionale at the start of this season and it worked out for him, as it did for Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young.
A training ground argument he had with Mason Greenwood had echoes of one between the experienced Ruud van Nistelrooy and the younger Cristiano Ronaldo. Both managers sided with the young player and both established stars exited. Solskjaer wanted positivity in his dressing room and Sanchez brought anything but.
It’s to Sanchez’s credit that he has found form again in Milan. He is a top footballer and his career has been hugely successful, but so is Angel di Maria and Memphis Depay, they too were all at sea as United’s ship lurched.
Though Sanchez received a small pay-off, United’s wage bill will be lighter for him leaving and the club were satisfied with the conclusion. As they should be, since he was a disastrous signing. Expensive, excessive and appeasing to fans who demanded big-name transfers above all else. Someone even made a flag showing his dogs and hung it from the East Stand.
United fans would prefer to talk about prospective signing Sancho than Sanchez, but will the club learn from the mistake of their highest-paid player being a flop and the type of transfer he embodied? On current evidence, yes, but the scars will take a little longer to heal.
