Though not surprising considering the Chilean international’s long-standing public flirtation with Manchester City, as the months remaining on his Arsenal contract dwindled into single figures, one of the more wince-inducing sights in recent football memory was that of Alexis Sanchez being forced to plead with teammates to celebrate his goal against Crystal Palace over the current season’s Christmas period.
Once the January transfer window opened, Sanchez’s expected exit came not long after yet, in a shock to many, eventually had him joining Manchester United as opposed to completing a much-desired reunification with Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.
Just two months into his four-and-a-half-year contract however, which pays him an astronomical £600,000 a week that has apparently already drawn the ire of his peers, it has been reported that Sanchez cuts the same solitary figure behind the scenes at Old Trafford and gives off the air of someone who would rather be elsewhere.
It would appear that Sanchez would prefer not to be on international duty either, confessing to have consulted his Chile captain and Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo with regards to sitting out this weekend’s friendly against Sweden as well as his disappointment with how things have gone thus far at his new club.
As fears linger that United may have another Angel Di Maria on their hands, Sanchez himself puts his poor form down to having never before changed employers mid-season in addition to personal issues that have jointly hampered his progress.
Also doing him no favours however is Jose Mourinho’s failure to find a system that benefits both he and Paul Pogba in unison, with the pair dropped either individually or simultaneously at times. While respected voices including France national coach Didier Deschamps and Ian Wright insist that Pogba is being played in the wrong position, it seems doubtful Sanchez, currently struggling on the left wing, will be tried out as a lone striker as was common in North London considering the money spent on and current form of Romelu Lukaku.
Should Antoine Griezmann be signed in the summer, expect this to complicate matters even further.
