Misfit Alexis Sanchez has now banked £41MILLION in Man Utd wages… at £8.2m per goal
AS of this week, Alexis Sanchez will have banked £41MILLION in wages from Manchester United.
That works out at £8.2m for each of the five goals he has scored for the club since switching from Arsenal in January 2018.
To say Manchester City dodged a bullet is a real understatement.
Alarm bells should have been ringing at Old Trafford when it was clear Sanchez was going to the club that would pay him the most.
They certainly did at the Etihad, which is why they left the way open for his move to the red half of the City.
They could see the upset a player on £505,000-a-week could cause to a dressing room full of winners like Sergio Aguero and David Silva.
Sir Alex Ferguson once said you did not have to go looking for the money as a United player, because it would find you.
Unfortunately, it seems to have been cash first and worry about the badge later for Sanchez.
His failed time at United has caused a shift in thinking at the club under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Instead of big names like Sanchez or Radamel Falcao, who have done it elsewhere and only going to United for a bumper payday, they want young, hungry players out to make a name for themselves.
True, 26-year-old Harry Maguire will not be going overdrawn at the end of every month but the £85m buy still represents a young player desperate to prove himself at a big club.
Likewise, look at the face of 21-year-old Daniel James after scoring on his debut against Chelsea following his £15m move from Swansea and compare it with the sulking figure of Sanchez.
Watch the weekend’s youngest starting XI burst with pace from back to front.
Then compare it with the static football that epitomised performances with Sanchez and the recently departed Romelu Lukaku in the team.
With an average age of 24 and a clear hunger to perform for United, this is a team that has no room for Sanchez.
When Solskjaer talked of where the goals would come from now Lukaku has left, he did not name-check Sanchez. It was as if he had forgotten he was there.
Alexis is quality and he showed it in the Copa America.
Solskjaer on Sanchez this summer
In truth, he virtually has, for his planning for this new season was done without him on the tactics board.
The Chilean, who suffers from constant injury niggles, was not part of United’s pre-season after playing in the Copa America.
During that tour of Australia and the Far East, Solskjaer hinted it was down to Sanchez to prove he could be part of his new United.
The Norwegian said: “You can’t spoon feed them. They’ve got to come in and grab their chance. Alexis is quality and he showed it in the Copa America.”
But Sanchez has never grabbed the opportunity at United, just the cash. In reality, Solskjaer has not fancied him from the moment he took over.
Sanchez’s constant moaning started within weeks of him arriving. He was bringing people down.
Young players who needed him to set an example were being shown the wrong one. Those same players have decided to pick up the baton for themselves now.
Just look at the togetherness in celebration for that James goal in the 4-0 win on Sunday.
There is a positivity about the camp that even Paul Pogba has bought into.
Sanchez, meanwhile, is getting up to speed having missed much of pre-season. By the time he does, he will have realised United and Solskjaer have moved on.