Whilst Manchester United were busy making light work of a 3-0 victory over strugglers Stoke City on Monday evening, they were handed an unexpected boost by their rivals Manchester City. The blue half of Manchester decided to declare themselves out of the race to sign Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, the man who has sparked a January transfer battle in the Premier League after making it clear he would not sign an extension with the Gunners before his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
Not normally shy of spending money, City chose to end their pursuit of the Chilean ace in order to avoid breaking their wage structure, a wise move if they want to avoid upsetting the rest of their well-paid stars. Reports suggest it is now a battle between Manchester United and Chelsea, both of whom are willing to meet Arsenal’s £35 million asking price. It is hardly a surprise that England’s top clubs are prepared to battle so hard for the 29-year-old as – after all – this was a man who scored 24 goals and provided 10 assists for Arsene Wenger’s side last term.
“I think it's a good investment because we are talking about a top player and I'm hearing that the amount is around £20m,” said Chelsea boss Antonio Conte to Sky Sports earlier this week. “If you buy Alexis Sanchez with a normal price maybe 80 or 90 million euros.” Indeed, the Italian Coach was seen whispering in the player’s ear after a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday, and fans of Serie A will have been able to take a good guess at what he might have said.
To fully understand the context of such a subtle whisper, it is important to take a look back at how the forward first burst onto the scene in Italian football. Sanchez had been on the books at Friulian side Udinese since 2008, having first blossomed in the youth ranks of Chilean side Corbreloa.
“We had heard about Alexis as a teenager,” sporting director Fabrizio Larini recalled to the Telegraph. “We have a centre where we receive tapes from games from all the world’s leagues and he was flagged up to us. We sent a couple of scouts to see him live and they confirmed what we had heard. In a player like that, you can see indications of how good they can be. We knew immediately.”
Yet Udinese were smart. They may have already had an inkling that they had hit the jackpot but – rather than making a rash decision to attempt to shoehorn the youngster into the side – they opted for a slow and steady approach, first sending the player out on two separate loan spells to Colo-Colo in his native Chile, then to River Plate in Argentina. Larini insisted that this was the “comfortable environment” necessary for Sanchez to develop, and that decision certainly proved to be the right one.
Despite his obvious natural talent, his first two seasons in Serie A went largely under the radar, Sanchez scoring eight goals in 40 total appearances over the two campaigns. It was Francesco Guidolin that deserves the credit for changing his role from a pacy winger into a destructive force just behind the strikers, a position that he has now become so synonymous with.
The former Swansea boss saw his decision pay spectacular dividends as – supporting experienced forward Antonio Di Natale – he grew into his new role, scoring 10 goals in 12 matches after the traditional Winter Break. That season would see the duo fire in a total of 39 goals between them, with the Chilean having completed more dribbles than any other player in the league that year and propelling Udinese to a wholly unexpected Champions League berth.
Of course, that kind of form was never going to go unnoticed, and Sanchez caught the eye of Antonio Conte that summer, just as he had arrived at Juventus. However the lure of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona proved to be irresistible as the forward took the opportunity to try his luck in La Liga.
These events back in 2011 explain the context of Conte’s whisper last week, something which the Italian decided to expand on when questioned by reporters. “He knows very well in my first season in Juventus we tried to buy him from Udinese and then he decided to go to Barcelona,” the Coach revealed in his press conference. “He knows well my admiration for him and this was a good chance to say hello to him.”
With Pep now out of the race to reunite with Alexis Sanchez, perhaps the Chelsea man is thinking that good things come to those who wait.
